GoLion
by bossy
Summary: A retelling of the story of Voltron, starting from the beginning: the end of Earth and escape from Planet Doom.
1. Escape

**A/N:** Well, here's my new one. I know that there's like, a few different comics out there that have done a redo of Voltron, but very biasedly, I just think my idea's better. I mixed it up a little by using both Voltron and GoLion elements.

* * *

**Prologue**

Nostradamus said the world would end in 2012. So did the Mayans. How was Earth to know that they would be right?

Or that they were aliens.

Should have known. All those reports of 'alien abductions' that went unsubstantiated because there was no proof save for the word of some drunken bumbling idiots and kids who wanted to prove that 'the truth was out there.' And it was. Earth just didn't want to know it. Not really. So earthlings dismissed substantiated reports looked over the unclear details and went on with their days.

But the Drule Empire was nothing if not clever.

The Drule Empire, who had a long history of using technology to awe less civilized planets into submission, came to Earth before time was officially recorded and gathered its most famous followers in South America. The native Mayans, primitive in both mind and traditions, welcomed the visitors eagerly and soon flourished with their gifts. Together, the alien visitors and Mayans combined to become one of the most advanced races of beings the Earth had ever seen.

And then completely disappeared.

That should have been the first hint. The second was the calendar ending. No one guessed that the original purpose of the calendar ending was to calculate when the Drule invasion would begin. Hence, the end of the world. The Mayans had gained the knowledge of the Drule Empire and were whisked away before they could accidentally reveal the existence of aliens to the rest of the planet.

Nostradamus had been an accident in the Drule Empire's plans. He'd escaped from planet Drule's penal system to Earth and became fascinated with the planet's culture, as well as the concept of popularity. Using his own planet's history of preparations for hostile take-overs as reference, he made key predictions that brought him to the heights of recognition. He became known world-wide.

And outer worldly, too, much to his chagrin.

He was noticed by the Drule Empire and immediately executed. The Empire had concerns that Nostradamus had revealed too much, but found after some 'inquiries,' later classified as abductions, that his predictions had been too vague to rouse much suspicion.

Still, the Empire kept checking over the next half millennia to be sure that no one knew what was to come. They found that with a few covert personnel in key places, they could disarm Earth's defenses even further.

The prohibition of nuclear weapons. The end of space travel programs. Instability, unrest, and volatility in key countries. Terrorism made in the name of largely feared groups. That, coupled with being further advanced in technology than the planet Earth made its day of destruction effortless.

By the time Earth's remaining citizens realized they had been manipulated by the Drule Empire, its population had dropped from over seven billion to less than one hundred million due to nuclear war. The Empire took the remaining inhabitants in as slaves and sent them to planet Doom to live out the last of their meaningless lives.

Meaningless.

Akira refused to believe that his life was meaningless. That any life was meaningless. Every life had a meaning and a purpose; it was up to a being to figure out what those things were. He knew his. He'd known since he was a child, watching endless lines of helpless people being sent to their deaths. He was going to overturn the Drule Empire. And he'd start with Planet Doom.

**Chapter One: Escape**

"You there!"

Akira ignored the guttural call of the beast that was his work detail's guard-in-charge. Not being able to speak Drule usually helped a person to get away with things they weren't supposed to be doing, and Akira was slowly drifting away from his group as he worked.

"You! Slave!"

Akira went on pretending to work as his eyes secretly watched the skyline. He spoke near perfect Drule, but faked not knowing in front of any native inhabitants. The Drule guards tended to drop useful tidbits of information when they assumed that their prisoners didn't know what they were saying.

A large, cold, hand-like limb with too few fingers grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and spun him around. Akira looked up dumbly in the eyes of the Drulite that had been calling to him.

"I was talking to you, you unintelligent, soft-skinned bottom feeder."

Drulites had thicker skin than humans and enjoyed demonstrating that fact at every opportunity. Akira cocked his head to the side, imitating confusion. He pointed down at the ground, where he had been gathering rubble into a wagon.

"Working," Akira stated, speaking in Drule and deliberately mispronouncing the word.

His guard rolled his faintly glowing eyes and let loose a sigh of disgust.

"Work there," the guard commanded, pointing to the rest of the prison detail. For good measure, he shoved Akira in that direction. "Parasitic sapien species."

Akira obediently towed his wagon along, returning to the detail of other prisoners he was assigned to. Too bad the guard hadn't given him another minute. He'd gotten almost all the reconnaissance he needed.

Work was grueling. They were clearing the battlefield of the fighting arena. Nightly, battles between unlucky slaves and giant, mutated beasts occurred for the sport of Doom's inhabitants. Depending on the severity of the fight, parts of the arena needed to be repaired almost daily. Being young and in fairly good health, Akira was put on the work detail to repair it. It was difficult and it was tiring, but it also had its benefits.

Akira was learning things. He was learning the corridors and chambers of Doom's castle. He was memorizing the guards' details and when they patrolled what areas. He knew what control panels worked for which areas, and best of all, he knew which codes unlocked them.

Today, he'd been watching the slave transport ships enter and leave the atmosphere. That's why he'd strayed away from his detail. He didn't want to miss the minute details of how often they landed and what flight paths they took to leave.

He was going to steal one and escape this shitty planet.

"Good?" asked a tall man a few years Akira's senior. He had black hair and brown eyes that slanted in the corners hinting at Earthling asian descent. His name was Takashi.

"Ninety percent," Akira confirmed, speaking in Earth's most common tongue: english.

That was all that was said. They wouldn't talk to one another outside of their cells for the concern of punishment. The Drulites looked for reasons to whip the frail-skinned humans.

There was no end of work day for them. They simply worked until the job was finished, whether it take two hours or two days. There would be no food or break until it was done. It was a regular occurrence for men and women to drop dead from exhaustion from the work. The threat of being the evening's entertainment and fighting against one of Doom's beasts kept the prisoners working until their hearts stopped.

Finally, with the last stones paved into place, their work detail was done. Exhausted, Akira stumbled along next to Takashi as they were led back to the prison cells. Some days, his mind was too tired even process what he'd seen and learned. But today, he was good. No amount of work was going to stop his mind from analyzing what he'd seen today.

Silently, he ate his 'dinner.' It was a chunky, milky substance of proteins and fats that were specifically designed for his species in order to keep him strong. The Drulites didn't want to waste a good worker.

The taste of it was nothing compared to the texture. It reminded him of snot and vomit and other unpleasant things, but he'd eat as much of it as they'd give him. He needed to be strong. The others thought he was crazy for slurping down that slop.

There was no lights-out per se. It was always dark in the cells. There was just a point at which the guards didn't come around as much because most of the prisoners were sleeping. Key word: most.

"Please tell me you have all the information you need now," whined a lanky caucasian. "I don't wanna go back to work detail tomorrow."

"Whiner," teased a bulky latino. Everything about the man said muscle. He was on a special detail that was constructing a new wing to Doom's castle which was a more rigorous detail than any other.

"Close enough," Akira confirmed quietly. "If an opportunity presents itself, we're gonna take it."

"What about short stack?" asked the large man.

"Pidge should be in the mess hall," Takashi answered. "We'll pick him up on the way."

"All right big fella," the lanky one chuckled. "Do your magic."

"Slow down, Lance," Akira scolded. "The timing has to be perfect."

"Sorry," Lance shrugged. "A little eager to go, I guess."

"You and me both," Takashi agreed. "What's the matter, Hunk?"

The tall latino paced the cell in frustration. "I still think we should take the others with us."

"We can't," Akira told him gently, and not for the first time. "I want to take them with us too, but we have a better chance of escape when it's just the five of us. And when we get to Galaxy Garrison with our information, we'll be able to come back and free _everyone_. Not just the people in our cell block."

Hunk huffed as though he didn't agree, but didn't argue either.

"Incoming," Lance whispered. The four in the cell took on positions of resting as footsteps of a guard approached their cell. The steps paused briefly in front of their area before shuffling along to the next cell block.

"Rotten piece of shit," Hunk grumbled.

Akira shushed him, walking over to the tiny window that served for providing them with 'fresh' air. Not that any air on the planet could be considered fresh. It was just less pungent than the air already in the cell.

"The games have begun," he spoke gravely. The others shared a look of remorse with him. "It's time, Hunk."

Hunk stood and walked over to their barred door. With ease, he bent the bars out of place enough for them to slide through. As silently as they could, the four of them snuck out of the cell while Hunk rebent the bars after his exit. Using hand signals, they motioned to each other as they crept down the hall of the cell block.

In a way, it was the most treacherous path they would take. Not because of the guards; they were most likely occupied with watching the games on a transmitter screen, but for the prisoners themselves. One word from any of them could cause a riot that would spoil their intended escape.

It was a long walk to get away from that place.

Once outside the cell block, they picked up speed and deftly avoided the surveillance equipment as they jogged the corridors of the castle's detention area on their way to the launch pad. On the way, they stopped near the kitchens to collect Pidge.

Being small, even for a human, he found it easy to get away from his captors without notice. With the five of them together again, they broke out in a run towards the shuttle bay. The bay doors slid open for them with the last entered code, and the guys could literally taste the freedom before them.

"You're up, shorty," Hunk said, lifting Pidge up to the ventilation system of one of the slave transports.

Pidge crawled through the small shaft and let himself into the body of the ship, running towards the command center of it. He hot-wired the controls and hacked the authorization codes like a mad man, letting his comrades onto the ship before they could be spotted.

"It takes forty-five seconds for the engines to be flight ready," Akira told them as he typed furiously at the helm. "And it will probably only take twenty for the Drulites to figure out that no ship is supposed to be launching. Lance, Takashi, get on the guns."

The two did as recommended, powering up the lasers.

"Hunk, we'll need shields primarily at the aft of the ship," Akira rattled off. "Pidge, some radio interference would help us get off the ground."

With one last look between the five of them, Akira started the engines of the ship. Alarms went off immediately, but he ignored them, plotting their course based on what he'd seen earlier that day.

"Incoming targets," Lance announced, picking off the Drule soldiers as they entered.

"Fifteen seconds to launch," Akira told them, buckling himself in. They others did the same.

"All transmissions blocked until we exit the bay," Pidge told him. "After that, we're fair game."

"Launching!" Akira yelled, slamming back in his seat. He'd gunned it, knowing every second counted at this point. "We'll clear the atmosphere in sixty seconds."

"Enemy fighters sighted," Takashi told them. "Port and starboard. How's our ass look, Hunk?"

"Heavy," Hunk answered. "Shields are about to take a beating."

It was no sooner said than the ship began trembling with the force of blasts.

"Shields at sixty percent," Hunk announced. "Unless we do some return fire back here, we've got maybe thirty seconds before they give."

"I'm on it," Pidge cried, hopping into a gunner seat.

"Forty seconds to open space," Akira promised. "Just keep us alive, guys."

"Easier said than done," Lance grumbled. "Looks like the whole damn fleet is after us."

"If we make our lightspeed jump," Takashi told him, "we will be the first successful escape from planet Doom. I'd say that they are going to be quite adamant about keeping their reputation untarnished."

"Screw that," Lance chuckled. "Eat this, you blue skinned, yellow eyed, salamander looking pukes!"

"Thirty seconds!"

"Shields at forty percent!"

"I need more help back here! I'm being walloped."

"Kid, we got our own problems on the port and starboard. Make due."

"Shit! That knocked us down to twenty five percent!"

"We're not going to make it!"

"Son of a bitch," Akira muttered, still twenty seconds from open space. He couldn't make a plotted lightspeed jump until they were free from the atmosphere. If he jumped now, he could send them straight through a sun or meteor shower on accident.

'Well, we'll die here for sure,' he thought. 'Might as well die on our own terms.'

"Making the jump!" he yelled, plotting in numbers. "Hold on!"

"But we haven't—"

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A/N: And there you go. Anyone interested? Let me know what you think.


	2. Saved

**A/N: **Generally positive feedback, so I'll be continuing this.

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**Chapter Two: Saved**

Altea was an old planet, but its citizens were not. Of the hundreds of millennia that Altea had been in existence, it had only been settled for little over a thousand years. A young space explorer by the name of Fala had found and eventually settled on the planet, bringing with him refugees of other planets as well as technology that promptly brought it to its peak of civilization.

It lasted only two generations.

Altea was only twenty light years from planet Doom and had been uninhabited for millions of years for that reason. As soon as the Drule Empire realized how prosperous Altea and her people had become, they plundered the unassuming planet. The decimation went on for hundreds of years until a giant robot, commanded by the royal family, dispatched the Empire with any amount of permanency.

The war torn planet was allowed to begin to heal and restore itself to its former glory. The Falas, Altea's royal family, put the robot into hibernation during the relative peace time and managed to successfully see two more generations of peace.

Then Daibazaal Zarkon of Doom came.

The confident and newly crowned king of planet Doom wasted no time in reclaiming what he thought to be rightfully his, stealing away its citizens and putting them into slavery or worse, to death in his Beast Games.

At that time, King Raimon Fala tried to resurrect the hero robot to save them once again, but in the process lost both his wife and his three eldest children. His youngest, a mere three months old, was held as ransom to pull Raimon out of hiding.

In order to save is last child left alive, Raimon surrendered to Daibazaal and in turn lost his own life. He did manage, however, to spirit his child away from the monstrous ruler and into the hands of his trusted advisor and brother-in-law, Coran Raible.

With the death of its last monarch, no recent news had come from Altea in over fifteen years. It was widely considered to be a dead planet with no civilization left. But that couldn't be right, Akira realized.

Especially since a tractor beam from that planet was now guiding their stolen space ship down from its freefall into the atmosphere.

"Everyone alive?" Akira asked, checking his comrades. Moans and groans from each of them confirmed it. "Good. Find a hand blaster. I don't know what's bringing us down, but with our luck, we aren't going to like it."

They released themselves from their restraints and armed themselves with as much as they could carry.

"Not smart," Takashi told him, meaning the unplotted space jump.

"We're still alive," Akira defended weakly. "Right now, anyway."

"I'm taking point," Takashi announced. He had the most military knowledge among them and knew no one would contradict him. "Hunk at my flank. Kid, you stay in his shadow and make sure there's nothing on the low ground. You two watch our backs."

The ship had landed gently on a wide patch of yellow grass that stood out brightly in the moonlight. There was nothing to use as cover, save the ship.

"Great," Takashi muttered. A couple hundred meters away was a patch of rubble that had once been a part of a bigger structure, though now, it was nothing more than a heap of stones.

"To that grouping," Takashi ordered. "Double time. You trip, we're leaving you."

Akira sent him a look. "We're together on this."

"No, we were together getting off that planet," Takashi corrected. "And we can continue to stay together if you can keep up. If not, well, then its every man for himself."

They exited through the escape hatch. A gentle breeze was their only greeting as they landed on terra firma with their own two feet, but they immediately made for cover, despite that.

Due to his short legs, Pidge immediately fell behind.

"Damn it!" he cursed, trying to take longer strides. He only succeeded in tripping. He got a mouth full of grass for two seconds before he was yanked up by an arm.

"I won't leave you behind," Akira promised, pulling him along. "Just run."

The two of them were the last ones to make it to the rubble pile. Takashi shook his head at Akira, but Akira ignored him.

"This'll do for temporary cover, but we need to get out of the open," Takashi told them. He pointed to the dilapidated structure. "We'll head there. Stay in the shadows. Who knows what's in the air."

Slower this time, they scaled and rounded the boulders of broken building as they headed for the towering structure. In its day, it must have been great, but now, it was solely one standing wall that reached ten stories and piles of rubble where the other walls had been.

Behind them, their stolen ship exploded.

"Good bet that the Empire is in the vicinity," Pidge predicted. "That was the self-destruct. It can only be activated within a thousand meters."

Sure enough, two battle cruisers ambled into sight.

"Move faster," Takashi whispered, leaving them all behind. The other four stumbled a lot but made their way towards relative shelter at a quicker pace as well.

"They'll deploy ground forces," Akira predicted. "We can't stay here. We're like sitting ducks waiting to be found."

"Someone should have thought of that before making an unplotted space jump," Takashi goaded.

"For better or for worse, I made a choice," Akira argued. "And we're still alive."

"Not for long, if you do not quiet down."

The five of them all searched the surrounding area for the older man's voice that had interrupted them. Shadows held the voice away from their sight.

"Who're you?" Takashi demanded.

"A friend."

"Like hell," Lance muttered.

"A better friend than what awaits you out there."

They looked over to the remains of the stolen ship to see that the Drule soldiers had begun a ground search, as Akira had predicted.

"Okay, 'friend,'" Akira started, "how about a little good faith and getting us the hell outta here."

"Come along."

A man in his late fifties appeared from the shadows to them. His clothes were old and weathered, and his face hadn't seen a shave in a long time, but he appeared harmless as he gestured towards a hidden cobblestone door within the only standing wall.

"We'll follow you," Takashi told him, charging his blaster. "Just in case."

"As you wish," the man shrugged, disappearing through the doorway. Pidge was already running behind him.

"Damn it, kid, wait," Takashi spat. "I said I'm on point."

One by one, they disappeared through the doorway.

.o0o.

"No sign of them yet, Commander."

Commander Sadak eyed the officer on the screen with contempt. There should have at least been bodies if the prisoners had been on the ship when it blew. So it was safe to assume that since no bodies had been found, the prisoners had evacuated the ship and were now somewhere planet side.

"Search everything," he ordered. "Every rock, tree, and cave on this expiring planet. You had better come up with something within the hour, or you will be in the next round of Beast Games. Am I understood?"

"Impeccably," his officer stuttered, turning to yell at his men before the transmission had even ended.

Prisoners were under no circumstances allowed to escape with their lives. It was an understood order that every officer stationed on planet Doom was accustomed to. And 'til this day no one ever had. Hell if that tradition was going to be broken under Sadak's watch. He was a fifth generation commanding officer in the Drule Empire, and his line didn't make mistakes. Ever.

.o0o.

In silence the six men walked through unlit tunnels. The only light was coming from a candle held by their unexpected savior.

"This is far enough," Takashi announced, pulling Pidge to a stop. "Explain. Who the hell are you?"

The older man came to a halt and slowly turned to face them. "My name is Raible. Coran Raible. Last of his majesty Raimon's royal council and guardian to the last heir of Altea's throne."

That said, he began walking again. Undeterred by Raible's finality on the matter, Takashi didn't move.

"Why did you save us from the Drule soldiers?" he demanded. Raible turned again and gave him an incredulous look.

"You wish to go back?" he countered.

"This could be a trap," Takashi suggested.

"Or it could be exactly as it looks like," Raible answered. "Altea has been taking in refugees of Drule's planetary conquers for over a thousand years."

"No one's heard anything from Altea in almost twenty years," Takashi argued. "Its population is believed to have been completely wiped out."

"Not completely," Raible denied. "Though we have seen better decades."

"Where are you taking us?" Akira asked.

"To what's left of Erus," Raible told them. "It was once the royal city of Altea. Now, it's just a cave in the ground where we manage to survive."

"Fair enough," Akira shrugged, beginning to follow again. Takashi looked like he was going to blow a gasket. "You guys can stay here if you want. I'll check it out. No use in all of us dying if it really is a trap."

Raible began leading the way again, and with him went the light.

"I'll take my chances too," Lance quickly decided. "Beats staying here or being topside, if anything else."

With a sigh of disgust, Takashi followed too, with Pidge and Hunk trailing behind.

The tunnels went on forever, it seemed. They walked for over an hour before any light other than the candle could be seen. The tunnel finally opened up into a large cavern with torches for lights.

"Primitive," Pidge assessed, "but effective."

"We have done without large amounts of electricity for nearly twenty years," Raible confirmed. "It is hard to keep it hidden from Doom's forces if we use great quantities of it. It is reserved for emergencies and, if needed, defense."

Lance snorted. "To defend what? Doesn't look like there's much worth defending topside."

Akira elbowed him to shut up. They entered a smaller cavern that had a few outdated machines and a young woman crouching over one. The stereo phones over her ears gave Akira the impression that she was listening to radio waves.

"Allura—"

"Busy," the woman interrupted Raible. She was scribbling quickly on a piece of paper as she concentrated to what she was hearing. After nearly a minute, she took off the stereo phones.

"Allura, these men—"

"Are escapees from planet Doom," she interrupted again. "I know. Tell me something of good use."

Lance whistled lowly at her attitude.

"They are refugees," Raible began, but the woman, Allura, held up a hand to cut him off.

"Refugees flee a planet that is being plundered," she corrected, matter-of-factly. "These idiots are escapees and have tried to defy the entire Drule Empire. Why did you bring them here?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Akira stepped in. "We're not idiots."

"Jumping into light speed before clearing a planet's atmosphere is not a sign of intelligence," Allura told him. "You could have been incinerated."

Takashi punched Akira in the arm.

"Better than dying one of his slaves," Lance shrugged. "But personally, I don't prefer to die at all."

"None of Altea's citizens wish to die," Allura ranted. "But you are inadvertently setting into motion events that will inevitably cause their deaths now. You brought the Drule Empire here on your heels and it is Altea's people who now suffer for it."

"My dear Allura, our people are not dying," Raible tried.

"They have orders to search the caves, Coran," Allura bit. "The caves. How long until they find our buried cities? How long until they begin blasting away what's left of Altea's legacy? All because these five hot heads crash landed on our planet."

"We didn't crash land," Akira argued. "We were brought here. We ricocheted off your atmosphere and then were pulled in by a tractor beam."

Allura's eyes flew to Raible. "Is that so?"

Raible actually looked intimidated by the young woman who couldn't have been twenty years old.

"A tractor beam, you say," she repeated, still glaring at Raible. "Please tell me, Coran, did you bring these men to our planet without my permission?"

Raible did not answer. There was no sound in the cavern save for the young woman's teeth grinding.

"Well then," Allura started, feigning a pleasant tone. "Why don't you boys thank Coran for signing your death sentence, because Doom's forces will not give up their search for you until they find your bodies; dead or alive."

"Allura," Raible weakly argued.

"Enough," she spat at him. "Coran, I despise death as much as, if not more than anyone in this universe. But when faced with the decision of letting upwards of two hundred thousand people die so these five idiots can live, I will choose my people."

"How noble," Lance muttered sarcastically. "Lady, who do you think's gonna make us leave?"

She smiled, but it wasn't pleasant. Two large, glowing red eyes lit the cavern from behind her.

"Aojishi," she answered.

"Allura Raimon Fala!" Raible cried angrily. "You will not disgrace your father's legacy by using the lions in such a way! Bring Aojishi into submission immediately or I will deactivate him completely."

"Aojishi does as he pleases," Allura answered, shrugging. "And he does not like these men."

"That is so cool!"

All of them turned to see Pidge standing beneath the glowing eyes that was hidden in the shadows.

"Are these animatronics or full artificial intelligence?" he asked, staring at what the others could not see. The glowing red eyes looked down at Pidge and a loud snuff was heard.

"Aojishi, do not play with him," Allura scolded. "Either dispatch of him or send him away."

"Allura!" Raible cried again in contempt.

The glowing eyes closed and Pidge was out of sight with them.

"Aojishi! Put him down!" Allura called, finally chasing after the shadow threat. The others followed, curious. "He is not a toy!"

"Holy hell!" Lance cried, backing up when catching sight. He backed straight into Hunk, who was standing frozen at the sight. A large, blue and silver mechanical lion lay occupying the girth of one entire tunnel.

"Aojishi! Put him down!" Allura demanded. With a quirk of its cybernetic head, the lion opened its mouth and dropped the small human to the ground.

"So cool!" Pidge yelled again, standing up. "He has circuitry so small that it must have been assembled with micro hairs."

"And he has a rude sense of humor," Allura huffed, crossing her arms. "You should be at home, Aojishi. Especially if you solely intend to misbehave."

A puff of exhaust that could only be interpreted as a snort came at them in a whoosh.

"Kurojishi and Kijishi wouldn't behave this way," she told the lion. A growl ripped through the tunnel, echoing. "That was _not_ being friendly. Do not argue with me on the matter."

"What," Akira finally asked, "is that?"

"He thinks he is my guard," Allura answered, narrowing her eyes at the lion. "But he is more of a nuisance."

Another growl went through the tunnel.

"Don't speak to me in that tone of voice," Allura chided. "You know damn well how to behave."

"You understand that thing?" Lance asked timidly from behind Hunk, who was still transfixed.

"Coran, remove them from my sight," Allura demanded, suddenly remembering their presence. "They should not _be here_ and you know it."

"I am still acting Magistrate of this world, and I will not evict them," Raible denied. "They will be useful to us."

"Useful?" Allura repeated, with venom. "Useful for what? Bringing upon us Doom's fleets and army? I dare say they probably don't know what you intend to _use_ them for, let alone have their permission."

The silence was her answer.

"As I thought," she snapped.

"We will help each other," Raible tried to argue. "They likely wish to return to their home world. We wish to banish Doom's forces away for good. Both can be accomplished if we work together."

"How?" Akira asked. "And we have no home world anymore. We were heading to Galaxy Garrison."

Allura snorted. "A lot of good that will do you."

"Galaxy Garrison has the forces needed to attack Planet Doom," Akira argued, tired of the girl's petulance. "No stand alone planet or army is better qualified."

"Or more cowardly," she spat. "Nuro Fala, our planet's founding father, was one of the original members of Galaxy Garrison, and when he died, so did its allegiance. For almost nine hundred years, Altea has begged and pleaded for its help and received nothing in return but the excuse of not enough forces."

Another growl ripped through the tunnel, but its tone was different, as though it was echoing Allura's statement.

"Millions upon millions of my people have died waiting for their help," Allura said. "And you think just because you're going to show up there that Galaxy Garrison is suddenly going to jump on its proverbial horse and come save the day? They know exactly what goes on here, and on planet Doom, and they don't care as long as it stays away from them."

This time, it was Akira's teeth grinding.

"I will not abandon those people left in cells," Akira hissed. "I will return with a battalion even if I have to steal one."

"Then go," Allura dismissed, waving him away with one hand. "It is not my wish that keeps you here."

"A lack of space ship does," Lance pointed out. "They blew ours to pieces."

"Then you had better steal another," was Allura's answer. "Even if we had one, I would not lend you one of mine just to watch you be blown out of the sky."

"You mean there's nothing on this planet capable of space travel?" Pidge asked, though still mostly preoccupied by the mechanical lion.

Allura hesitated, setting her jaw. "Yes."

"You're lying," Takashi spoke, for the first time since they'd met the girl.

Allura met his gaze fiercely but it didn't last. A tremor of doubt went through her features.

"As I said, I would not give them to you even if I did," she repeated. "I would not watch them be blown away through incompetence."

"Allura, these young men did what no other has done before them," Raible pointed out. "They broke free of Doom's prisons, stole a slave ship, and escaped planet Doom and its forces. They are the best candidates I have seen in decades."

"Absolutely not!" Allura cried. "I will not give the lions to them! I refuse!"

"I may still overrule you," Raible reminded her.

A look of desperation crossed Allura's features and she turned to the lion.

"Aojishi," she said rushing to him. "Let's go!"

"Allura Raimon Fala!" Raible shouted, fruitlessly chasing after her. She'd already entered the lion, and it was crawling backwards at amazing speeds for its size. "Don't you dare do this, girl!"

The lion was gone.

"Heaven and Altea, keep her safe," Raible whispered. "Those Drulites are going to tear her to shreds."

* * *

**A/N:** So, more feedback is appreciated. Like how it's going so far?


	3. Battle

**A/N: **Okay so this seems to be going well. A few answers to questions that need to be addressed: one, yes, I'm using some canon names as a mixture of first and last names. I.e. Allura = english first name, Fala = Japanese first name, but in my story, her name is Allura Fala. Two, for the sake of confusion in some areas, I am providing a key of sorts.

NAMES:  
Sadek = Yurak  
Takashi = Sven  
Akira = Keith  
Coran Raible = Coran  
Altea = planet Erus  
Ao/Aojishi: Blue Lion  
Aka/Akajishi: Red Lion  
Ki/Kijishi: Yellow Lion  
Midori/Midorijishi: Green Lion  
Kuro/Kurojishi: Black Lion

Hopefully the rest you can figure out, but if not, let me know and I'll add them.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Battle**

"Sir, our scanners still do not pick up any non-rodent life forms."

Commander Sadak's grip on the arm of his chair tightened to the point that the metal groaned in protest. It was impossible. Five stupid little humans couldn't just disappear from all existence.

"What of the ground forces?" Sadak demanded. "Are they as inefficient as our scanners?"

The underling who was addressing the commander squirmed a little.

"Ground forces have been searching outward from the spaceships remains and covered a distance of ten kilometers with no success," the officer answered. He flinched when Sadak stood.

"Morons!" Sadak cursed. "Prepare more cruisers. I will have the location of the fugitives by the end of the hour or heads will roll!"

To emphasize his point, Sadak drew his laser sword and lopped off the unlucky officer's head before he could even take a step back. The other men at the controls eyed Sadak fearfully before typing madly at their consoles.

"Those vile vermin will never escape me," Sadak promised himself.

.o0o.

"Aojishi, am I making the wrong decision?" Allura asked the lion as it climbed through tunnels towards the surface.

The lion's computed response was both an affirmative and negative.

"Very helpful," Allura snorted.

The lion told her that he was hers, and no one else's. That decision was right.

"But it was wrong of me to deny those men amnesty?" she asked, analyzing the surface a few meters above them for movement or electrical currents. One of the screens, a small one near the manual control device was blinking with her answer.

**Ao: Affirmative.**

"Even at the cost of my people?" she clarified.

**Ao: Affirmative.**

Allura's shoulders slumped. No matter how she looked at it, five men were in no way worth the cost of the lives of her people, but the lions were usually never wrong. Usually.

"Then what should I do?" she asked, confirming that there was no one around within their sensor's scan.

**Ao: Fight.**

Allura rolled her eyes. Yeah, that would go over well with Coran.

"I want to," she lamented, "believe me, I do."

**Kuro: Fight.**

**Aka: Fight.**

**Ki: Fight.**

**Midori: Fight.**

The other four lions chimed in their opinions and had sent them to her intercom screen.

"I cannot pilot all five of you at once," she pointed out.

**Ao: Mouse human.**

Allura cocked her head to the side in confusion as they made their way out of the tunnels to the surface. Dawn was setting in and shone brightly in her eyes.

"Mouse human?" she repeated, shielding her eyes so she could read the screen better. "What is a mouse human?"

**Ao: Small.**

"Small," Allura repeated. "Small human. You mean the human you toyed with?"

**Ao: Greeting.**

"You were not greeting him," Allura denied. "You were toying. But you're saying you want that young man to pilot you?"

Allura's straps tightened around her even though they weren't moving yet.

**Ao: Mine.**

"Okay," she rolled her eyes, shaking her head at Aojishi's possessiveness. "Then pilot whom?"

**Ao: Others.**

Allura didn't need to wait long for the 'others' to answer that suggestion.

**Midori: Unknown.**

**Aka: Denied.**

**Ki: Variable overload.**

**Kuro: No.**

"Well, Aojishi, the others don't agree with you," she said. "Except Midorijishi, who doesn't know what he wants."

"Allura Raimon Fala! You get back down here this instant, young lady!"

Coran's voice rang through the cockpit at a painfully loud level.

"Denied," Allura answered, stealing her response from Akajishi and cutting communications to base.

**Midori: Mouse human?**

"A small human," she clarified to Midorijishi. He was the green and silver lion that rested in the windy caverns nearby. "He was more fascinated by Aojishi than afraid of him."

**Midori: Approved.**

Allura's eyebrows rose in surprise. So easily convinced to take on a pilot? That was not like Midorijishi, let alone any of the other lions.

"You are sure about this, Midorijishi?" Allura prodded. Aojishi rolled to the side suddenly after being hit by a missile. "Shit!"

Three Doom cruisers were headed her way.

"Return fire, Aojishi," she commanded, reopening the communication line to base. Coran was red-faced and ready to yell at her again, but she spoke first.

"Midorijishi will take on the youngest escapee," she told him, bracing as she was hit by another missile. "That is the best you will get from me right now."

**Ao: Wind vectors varying.**

"I know, Aojishi," she whispered, ending communications, "I know. I will monitor them."

She fed him vector data and his targets improved but there were simply too many of them. One lion could not subdue three battle cruisers.

**Kuro: More humans?**

Kurojishi, the black lion, was asking.

"There are four others," she answered. "I do not trust them. I do not even know what to think of the young one that Midorijishi will take on, but I am confident that Midorijishi can handle him."

**Kuro: Human pilot request.**

**Aka: Human pilot request.**

**Ki: Human pilot request.**

Allura hissed in frustration. "I told you I do not trust them. I do not want them piloting you."

**Kuro: Demand. Human pilot demand.**

Kurojishi again. He was most commonly the spokes-lion for the group and the others would follow his lead, save Aojishi, who just did as he pleased.

**Aka: Human pilot demand.**

**Ki: Human pilot demand.**

No surprise, Akajishi and Kijishi were now demanding pilots too.

Frustrated, Allura opened communications again. Distracted, Aojishi took another hit.

"Son of a bitch," she cursed. Coran's concerned eyes met her. "Send three of the others to Kuro, Aka, and Ki. They are _demanding_ pilots."

Midorijishi roared his arrival.

"This is _awesome_," the youngest pilot assessed.

"This is a battle," Allura snapped. "Pay attention. Midori will do most of the work and request what he needs from you."

"I'm Darrell," the young pilot told his lion. "But nobody calls me that. They call me Shorty, or Short stack, or Pidge, mostly."

"Introductions later," she hissed. "Fight."

"He asked," Pidge defended.

**Ao: Ground attack. **

Allura grimaced at Aojishi's suggestion.

"I've not been trained for that," she reminded him.

**Ao: Monitor terrain conditions.**

"Fine," she relented. Aojishi dug his paws into the ground and pounced. Allura kept track of the stability of possible landing areas and fed the data to her lion, but could not keep up with the speed in which he attacked.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized when he stumbled.

**Ao: Faster.**

"I'm trying," she told him.

"How do I get in this thing?"

One of the escapee's voices rang through her open communications channel she'd forgotten to close. It was the lanky, sarcastic one.

"You don't, if your lion does not approve you," Allura answered.

**Aka: Frail.**

Akajishi apparently did not like the appearance of his prospective pilot.

"You demanded," Allura reminded him, failing even worse at monitoring the terrain. "No back talk."

**Aka: Temporary.**

"Fine," she agreed.

**Ao: Pay attention.**

"I'm trying, Aojishi," she snapped. "I have too many distractions."

"Hurry up, cat. We got a fight to get to."

That was the large escapee chiming in over the open line. Apparently he was in a hurry.

**Ki: Approved.**

Allura rolled her eyes at Kijishi. Looks like he was in a hurry too.

Akajishi entered the fight, finally making it even. Or would have, if Aojishi not been on his last leg. The cockpit was heating up quickly due to Aojishi overworking his circuits, not to mention shorting some out when he took a hit.

**Ao: Missiles low. Restock.**

"Head to the cavern Aojishi," she relented. "Akajishi, you'll be taking my place in command."

**Ao: Accepted.**

**Aka: Acknowledged.**

Somewhat awkwardly, especially since he was a two story tall lion, Aojishi made his way to the cavern behind the old castle. To her dismay, ground soldiers were there blocking her way.

"Clear a path," Allura told Aojishi. With his giant paws, Aojishi swept away the soldiers, knocking them unconscious as they collided with the ruins. In the dark of the caves, Aojishi switched to night-vision.

**Kuro: Choose**.

Kurojishi was the last lion waiting for a pilot and apparently wanted to leave the decision between the two up to her.

"I can't choose right now, Kurojishi," Allura denied. "I'm restocking Aojishi. You'll have to choose."

**Kuro: Neither.**

"You can't be picky!" she yelled at the lion, though it did her little good since volume didn't translate through the computer screen. "You wanted one, this is what you get."

**Kuro: Princess.**

**Ao: Denied. Mine.**

**Kuro: Princess.**

**Ao: Mine.**

"Aojishi! Look out!" she cried, spotting a Drule soldier with a hand cannon as they rounded a corner. Aojishi took the hit straight on in his mechanical head.

**Kuro: Status.**

**Ao:…**

**Kuro: Status, Princess. Status, Ao.**

**Ao:…**

**Kuro: Princess is down.**

.o0o.

"I want those mechanical monstrosities blown completely apart!" Sadak snapped at his men. "Send everything we have against them! Those wretched cats should be in pieces by the time we're done with them!"

Sadak watched as his entire fleet of battle cruisers was put on alert and readied. Thirty ships. Those fable cats would never be able to stand up to that many cruisers, no matter what the legends said.

Sadak had heard rumors about lions from his forefathers, but never imaged they existed. His own grandfather had never run across them in the last one hundred years, but his grandfather's grandfather had been around when the lions were first in existence. The general messages conveyed in the stories that Sadak had been told were that the lions were extremely powerful and that the lions must, under any and all circumstances, be destroyed.

That was enough for Sadak.

.o0o.

Akira and Takashi watched the black and silver lion as it began to fidget agitatedly. It roared and fidgeted again, knocking loose some stalagmites on the cavern ceiling.

"What's his problem?" Takashi asked.

"Dunno," Akira answered. "But I know what mine is."

He walked forward to address the lion.

"Hey! Come on! Let one of us in!" he yelled. "This is ridiculous. We should be out there fighting with them, not wasting time while you have a tantrum."

The black lion came down to his level and roared loudly at him, shaking the cave with its intensity.

"Quit your bitching!" Akira yelled back. "Let's go!"

The lion reared and stomped, forcing Akira to swallow back a splash of fear. With another growl, the lion opened its large jaws and encompassed him. Akira didn't even have time to protest before he was slid roughly down the lion's 'throat' and into a small cockpit.

**Kuro: Move. Fast.**

"About fucking time," Akira muttered, scooting into place in the command seat and buckling in. "Now was that so hard?"

**Kuro: Aojishi down. Heading for castle Erus.**

"No, we need to help the others," Akira argued. "Aojishi and that pig-headed girl will be fine."

**Kuro: Unconscious. Unresponsive.**

"Damn it," he cursed. "Open a window or something so I can yell at Takashi."

**Kuro: Speak.**

"Takashi!" he called. Takashi started, obviously not expecting the lion to speak to him. "Hey, that blue lion is down back by where we came in. This one says both the lion and that girl are not responding. Can you go check it out?"

Takashi rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"Can we go now?" Akira asked his lion.

**Kuro: Denied.**

The lion reared on Takashi the way it had Akira and scooped him up in his mouth. Without Akira's command, the lion began running through the tunnels back the way they'd came, and Akira could hear Takashi's muffled cursing. In minutes, they'd reached the cavern where Raible had first brought them to see the man himself cornered behind boulders. He was attempting to return fire against some Drule soldiers and looked to be having a bad time doing so.

**Kuro: Fire blasters.**

"Oh, so now you want me to do something," Akira grumbled, dispatching the soldiers in seconds. The black lion continued on and swerved down a tunnel they hadn't seen before to come up on the blue and silver lion. Covering it were more Drule soldiers, obviously attempting to get within it. Akira didn't wait to be asked to fire on them.

Takashi was finally released from the black lion. He looked up at the mechanical creature in disdain and cursed it.

**Kuro: Pilot.**

"Huh?" Akira asked, confused.

**Ao: Denied.**

**Kuro: Pilot.**

**Ao: Refused.**

**Kuro: Pilot, Ao. **

**Ao: Negative.**

Slowly, Akira realized that his lion was not 'talking' to him, but rather with the other lion.

**Kuro: Princess, Ao?**

**Ao:…**

'Princess?' Akira thought to himself.

A hatch popped open on the blue lion, allowing Takashi to enter.

**Ao: Restock. On point. 10 minutes.**

**Kuro: Accepted.**

Akira's lion finally turned to head to the battlefield.

"Good luck," Akira told Takashi, wondering how he'd fair with the temperamental lion.

"Yeah, right, thanks," Takashi muttered, crawling towards the cockpit. There had to be a better way to reach it, but then again, he'd just been carted around in a lion's metal mouth for five minutes.

The small cockpit was extremely hot and filled with steam when he entered. There were multiple monitors that showed static fuzz and a few were even broken out. Takashi made his way to the command seat to see the young woman called Allura hanging from it, unconscious and bleeding from a wound in her head.

Carefully, Takashi unbuckled her and let her fall into his arms. The pale skinned blonde didn't make a sound as he moved her to where he could lay her down and check out her head wound. Long strands of the yellow hair made it difficult for him to see anything and he settled on making a compress for it.

**Ao: Sit.**

Takashi wouldn't have noticed the words on the one working screen if it had not beeped at him.

"I'm busy," he denied, trying to situate the girl so she wouldn't be jostled.

**Ao: Sit. Now. Must restock.**

"You know, for a lion that is obsessed with this girl, you don't take her health much into consideration," Takashi argued. "We should take her back to Raible."

**Ao: Denied. Mine.**

Takashi settled the girl as best he could and then wiggled himself into the pilot's chair. It was awkward because the entire lion was still sideways, but as soon as he sat, the lion stood up and began moving.

"Fine, do what you want," Takashi dismissed, moving to get out of the seat. The restraints buckled themselves and tightened on him. "Hey!"

**Ao: Pilot. Temporary. Restock and join battle.**

"Allura's right," Takashi muttered. "You are a nuisance."

.o0o.

"Midori says I'm low on missiles," Pidge relayed over the communications line.

"That's okay, Pidge," Akira told him. "I want you with me. Hunk, Lance, continue return fire. We're gonna play battle cruiser hopscotch."

**Kuro: Explain.**

"Pidge and I are going to attack the cruisers hands on and hop from one to another while the others continue fire," he told his lion. "Try and confuse them a little so we can take them down."

**Kuro: Approved.**

His lion was a little spastic about the girl in the blue lion, but otherwise it and Akira got along pretty good when it came to the battle.

"Can you tell how many more cruisers are in the area?" Akira asked his lion as he and Pidge pounced on one. Akira fired on the aft of the ship while the lion itself clawed through the ship's hull.

**Kuro: Three within forty kilometer distance.**

"That's all?" he clarified.

**Kuro: Four outside forty kilometers.**

"In the atmosphere?" he prodded.

**Kuro: One flag ship. Kaosen. Commander Sadak.**

Akira had heard of it. Kaosen was the Drule word for death. And Commander Sadak was known as the most decorated soldier of Doom's armies.

"We're going to have to do something about that ship if we want to stop the attack," Akira predicted. "That flag ship can circle the planet for weeks on end and send down endless forces."

**Kuro: Task at hand.**

"I'm putting it on the back burner," he told his lion. "I can multitask."

One cruise ship went down finally.

"Betcha that's gonna attract a little attention," Lance guessed.

"Bring it on," Hunk answered.

"Go restock, Pidge," Akira commanded. "Takashi should be here soon, and we're gonna need all the ammo we can get."

"Not sure I'm going to be much help," Takashi announced. "This shithead lion won't listen to me at all."

**Kuro: Diamond formation.**

"Whoa," Lance said. "Did your lion just take over all controls?"

"I never had control," Takashi grumbled.

"Let them do their thing," Akira told them. "I kind of get the feeling that all we are to them are warm bodies."

**Aka: Affirmative.**

"I feel so loved," Lance muttered.

"They're doing the job, though," Akira noted as another cruiser went down. Unfortunately, three more took its place. "And we're outnumbered again."

"I'm hurrying," Pidge promised.

**Kuro: Left V. Munitions right.**

Down to four cruisers.

"Why didn't they do this before?" Hunk asked. "We've been scraping along and now all of a sudden it's like the winds have changed."

They were back down to three cruisers when Pidge rejoined them.

"We got four more coming in on the horizon," he told them. "They're hot on my heels."

**Kuro: V formation. Ao and Midori at ankle.**

The five lions together took down the last three cruisers in minutes.

"Kid, stay lying down. You've got a bad head wound."

"What the hell is going on?"

"Takashi, you still have that girl with you?" Akira asked, unbelieving.

"The damn lion wouldn't let me take her back to the old man," Takashi explained.

"Aojishi, let me take over," Allura's voice demanded.

**Ao: Denied.**

"Do not deny me!" she yelled, causing Akira to flinch. He couldn't imagine how bad it was for Takashi, who was in the same cockpit as her.

**Kuro: Ao. Base.**

**Ao: Denied.**

**Kuro: Base. Now.**

**Ao:…**

The blue lion started trotting back towards the caverns.

"Kurojishi, I will not be treated this way!" she ranted. "Do not treat me like a child!"

**Kuro: Denied.**

"Damn it, Aojishi," she complained. "Why do you listen to him _now_?"

"Incoming," Hunk announced. Four cruisers were closing in on them.

**Kuro: Right V. Heavy breaches.**

The lions attacked again, clawing their way through the ships as the landed on them.

"If you've got missiles left," Akira said, "use them."

Two more battle cruisers were incapacitated before Takashi returned.

"I don't want to be your lion when we get done here," Takashi told Akira. "That girl was hopping pissed and sounded ready to dismantle him herself."

He chuckled.

"But my lion says she'll have to wait in line," Takashi said. With the five of them together again, the last two cruisers were down in minutes.

"We've still got that flag ship in the atmosphere," Akira told them. "We should disable their light speed equipment first thing so they can't jump in case they try to high tail it out of here when we break the atmosphere."

"No! You can't go up there!"

Allura was on the communication line now, looking livid.

"The lions are not space-ready!" she cried. "It could be the death of you all."

**Kuro: Denied.**

"Kuro disagrees with you," Akira told her. "I think he likes my plan."

**Kuro: Agreed.**

"To hell with your plan!" she yelled. "Report back to the caverns, immediately."

**Kuro: Denied.**

"I will not be denied! Not this time," she screamed. "Yammis nando, korosanda yishi."

Whatever she had said had not been Drulish or the standardized english that was observed by Galaxy Garrison. However, the lions stopped immediately and began returning to the restock cavern.

Lance whistled. "Not sure I want to go back to face that."

Akira looked down at his lion's communication screen sympathetically.

**Kuro: Agreed.**

* * *

**A/N: **As always, reviews appreciated, especially if this has ended up too confusing. That was my main worry with this chapter.**  
**


	4. History

**Chapter Four: History**

Sadak's men waited for the word to deploy. He was about to issue the order, but an incoming transmission stopped him.

"Sir. We are being hailed from Planet Doom."

Sadak's jaw clenched ever so slightly. "Put it through."

Immediately, the huge visage of Daibazaal Zarkon filled the main screen. The legendary ruler didn't look much different from other Drulites aside from the crown and clothes he wore, but then there was his aura. Even through a monitor being broadcast over hundreds of space years, Zarkon managed to instill some fear into Sadak at the sight of him.

"I demand a report, Commander," Zarkon gargled. His voice had once been clear, but too many years sitting on a throne and too few in battle had aged the King of Planet Doom. "Where are the fugitives?"

"We are in the process of procuring them from Planet Altea," Sadak reported. "I was about to deploy cruisers to round them up when this transmission came through, my liege."

Zarkon raised a surprised eyebrow. "They are not in your custody yet?"

"A momentary lapse that will be immediately corrected," Sadak assured him.

"Coming from anyone but you, Commander, I would be disappointed," Zarkon commented. "I know to trust you better than that. When I inquire again after a report, I will be presented with the news I want, will I not?"

"The fugitives will be rotting in my detention cells," Sadak vowed. "Or I will forfeit my life to the Beast Games."

Zarkon smiled grimly while the other men on the ship tried to cover their looks of horror. No one ever volunteered for the Beast Games.

"So be it," Zarkon agreed, and ended the transmission. Sadak took a moment before sitting down in his chair.

"Sir?" prompted one of the officers after a moment.

"Tell the rest of the fleet to hold in the atmosphere," Sadak ordered. "In the mean time, I want all research ever collected on those lions. Everything. If those lions piss radiator coolant, I want to know about it."

.o0o.

Raible was waiting for the lions near the entrance to the caverns.

"Release your pilots," he instructed them.

Some gently, others not, the lions dropped their pilots to the ground to stand before Raible.

"Now back to your homes," he told them. "Immediately. Aojishi, you will be dealt with later."

The blue lion roared in defiance, but the black lion nipped at him, settling the dispute.

"Allura is fine," Raible revealed. "Though a little out of spirits."

Aojishi growled.

"Go," Raible dismissed. The lions began to disperse, heading off to their 'homes.'

"First and foremost," Akira began, "that girl. Just who the hell is she?"

"The last of the dying line of Falas," Raible answered, heading into the cavern. The others followed. "She was orphaned at a young age and I have done my best to raise her, but unfortunately, I am not the best candidate to teach someone how to be royalty."

"Royalty?" Lance repeated.

"The lion, Kuro," Akira said. "He called her a princess."

"Princess?" Pidge repeated. "She's a princess?"

"Only when the occasion suits her," Raible lamented. "She's more apt to think of herself as a soldier than a princess. Only when she does not get her way will she own up to the title."

"You said you out-ranked her," Takashi pointed out.

"I do, in a way," Raible admitted. "She is still under our planet's legal age of adulthood, so as her guardian, I may step in and overrule a decision if I deem necessary."

"But not over the lions," Akira guessed.

"No, not over the lions," Riable agreed with a tired sigh. "The lions only see the royal line as their commander. Kurojishi has a little more sense than the others when it comes to disobeying her, but as you saw today, some orders cannot be denied."

"What exactly did she say to them?" Pidge asked. "Midori just froze up all of a sudden and turned tail."

"There's no exact translation," Raible said, "but it comes down to 'royal order, fall back.'"

Lance whistled. "She must've been pissed."

"Indeed," Raible agreed.

"I expected her to be the one to meet us up there so she could spout off a piece of her mind," Takashi admitted. Raible coughed and cleared his throat.

"Likely, that's what she would have done," Raible nodded. "But she is not the only one who will not be disobeyed today."

They rounded the corner to see the young woman tied to a chair.

"Damn it, Coran! Release me at once!" she hollered the moment she saw him. "This is not funny."

Despite that statement, the five young men looked to be having a terrible time not laughing.

"Indeed not," Riable agreed. "Your health and safety are my top priority, and I shall take measures to prevent harm, even if it comes from yourself."

"I am not a danger to myself," she argued, struggling against the ropes. "I was doing fine until Ao and Kuro started arguing and—"

"Royal heirs are forbidden from piloting a lion," Raible interrupted.

"And that is the first rule I shall change when I am throned," she muttered. "They are _my_ lions, I should pilot them, if anyone."

"And speaking of 'your' lions," Raible went on, "tomorrow I am having Ao's decision chip removed. That little stunt of his was the last straw."

Heavy heaves of breath were all the response that Allura gave him.

"And before you curse me to the fiery pits of planet Doom," Raible said, "it is for your own good. I didn't save your life as a child to—"

"You didn't save me," she hissed. "Ao saved me. It was Ao who carried me from Doom to Altea. It was Ao who kept me hidden from Drule's forces. And you want to steal away that lion's ability to make decisions? You are cruel."

"Yes, Ao saved you," Raible snapped back sarcastically. "Then he kept you hidden in his mouth for two days until you almost died of malnutrition. I had to dismantle his whole jaw to retrieve you."

Allura had nothing to say to that, but refused to stop glaring daggers.

"Now enough of this," he said with finality. "Tell me where the keys are."

Allura raised an eyebrow at him in contempt.

"Over my dead body," she spoke slowly, enunciating each word.

"Do not be childish, girl!" Raible snapped. "These men have obviously proven themselves to be more than adequate pilots. We need the keys in order to be able to—"

"I destroyed them," Allura interrupted. "When I was a child. I threw them all into Aka's pit and watched them melt."

Raible looked ill. "You did not."

"Ask Aka," she shrugged indifferently. "He watched me do it. Oh, wait, you can't ask Aka. Because he won't speak to you."

"Insolence," Raible muttered. "I will ask Kuro. He will tell me."

"Fine," she bit.

Raible turned to the five men who'd been unfortunate witnesses to the ugly argument. "Come. You may as well learn where the home bases are for your lions."

"They are not _their_ lions," Allura muttered. Raible paid her no mind and set off towards the cavern exit. "You will not leave me here like this again!"

"On the contrary," Riable called back. "I believe it will do you some good."

She watched in anger as the six of them left her still tied to a chair. A mechanical purr sounded behind her.

"Help me, Aojishi," she whispered, knowing he'd be the only one who'd disobey Coran. She heard some shuffling and scraping metal before the sharp _ting_ of a blade extending. Her ropes slid free of her and she stood from the chair and faced her lion.

"Thank you," she whispered, watching the tooth blade retract back into his mouth. She stepped over and hugged him. "I'm so sorry. I'm not as strong as you need me to be."

He whined, shaking his head slightly in attempt to nuzzle her.

"Coran will _not_ be stealing your decision chip," she promised. "I won't let him. You know what the right decision is, whether or not it's a pain in the ass to get you to do it."

"Yeah it is."

Allura's head jerked in the direction of the cavern entrance. The tall, dark-haired one who'd piloted Aojishi before stepped into the light.

"Stubborn as hell," he diagnosed. "I doubted he'd do as he was told."

"What do you want?" Allura asked.

"Well, I sure as hell don't expect a thank-you for helping dispatch those Drule soldiers," he shrugged sarcastically.

"Good," she said. "It's your fault they're here."

"Hey, I didn't make that space jump," he defended. "But like Akira said, I don't have anywhere else to go, and like you, I don't particularly care for Galaxy Garrison."

"So you want amnesty?" she guessed, petting the lion's muzzle affectionately.

"I'd settle for a bed to sleep in," he answered. "Or a sleeping bag. Or whatever, until I can find somewhere that will take me."

"You should ask Coran," she told him. "As he said, any decision I make is subject to his discretion."

"That really irks you, doesn't it?" he observed. "You're not that young. How old do you have to be to take on royal duties or whatever?"

"Seventeen," she answered.

"Oh," he responded, eyebrows rising. "Maybe you are that young, then."

"I am just as capable now of making decisions as I will be in four months," she complained. "The fact that Coran can just usurp me as he pleases is ridiculous."

The conversation dropped as Takashi walked over and poked Aojishi in his metal nose. The lion flared exhaust at him from his nostrils in response.

"He took quite a beating," he observed.

"He did," Allura agreed. "And despite that, he chooses not to return to his home for repairs and comes to sit with me."

"Stubborn as hell," Takashi repeated quietly. Aojishi shot more exhaust at him.

"The lions are space ready, aren't they?" Takashi guessed. Allura didn't meet his gaze.

"I don't know for sure," she told him. "They haven't been tested in over fifteen years. They could explode when attempting to break the atmosphere."

"And you're too selfish to let that happen," he finished. Allura looked up and glared at him.

"Think of it what you may, but I had a very lonely life as a child," she said. "My only human companion has been Coran and he has been more of a parental figure than anything. I craved camaraderie and found it within my lions. So yes, if it is selfish to want to let no harm come to them, then I am for sure very selfish."

"Explains why you understand them," Takashi observed after a moment. "Outside of the cockpit, I mean."

Allura tsked. "That I am forbidden from being in the cockpit is absurd."

Takashi chuckled. "Somehow I doubt that's ever stopped you."

"Coran is an overprotective coot," Allura complained. "Yes, I understand that I am the last of the Fala line, but that does not mean that I will be broken from a stiff wind."

Aojishi began crawling backwards into his hiding tunnel.

"Speaking of the coot," she murmured, facing the cavern entrance. On quick foot falls, Raible reentered the room.

"Where is he, Allura?" he demanded. "Where is Aojishi? He is not in his home base."

"How should I know?" she countered. "You left me here tied to a chair."

Raible looked down briefly at the cut ropes on the floor, then back to Allura.

"He let me go," Allura explained quickly, pointing to Takashi. Raible looked to him for confirmation. Takashi shrugged, smirking.

"Couldn't just let her sit there like that," Takashi said, winking at Allura when Raible turned away.

"That lion has been a misfit since his creation," Raible grumbled. "My only hope is that he'll behave when we find the keys."

"I melted them," Allura insisted. "Didn't Kuro tell you so?"

"Kuro said you threw them in Aka's lava pit," Raible confirmed. "He didn't say they were destroyed."

Allura's demeanor darkened. "Those keys should not exist."

"Those keys are our only hope of survival as a people," Raible contradicted. "We need them to resurrect Voltron."

"Voltron is dead," Allura denied. "He died along with my father. The only purpose the keys would serve now is to enslave the lions."

Takashi chuckled. "I doubt there is anything in this universe that could enslave Aojishi. He's too obstinate."

Allura and Raible turned their attention to him, suddenly remembering he was there.

"Of all people," Raible muttered, "I'd think you, Allura, would be eager to give these men those keys. Our people could go from scraping a living in caves to being restored above ground to the glory of the old days in a matter of months."

"The safety of my people is always at the forefront of my mind," Allura assured him snippily. "And Voltron is not a cure-all. It is a sacrifice."

"A worthy sacrifice, I dare say," Raible said as parting, leaving the cavern once again. The silence rang for a few moments before Takashi shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"So," he began. "What's a Voltron?"

Allura sighed. "Shall I tell him, Aojishi?"

The dark cavern where the lion hid purred.

"Alright," she relented, pulling up a chair. "You'll likely want to sit for this. It is quite a long story."

.o0o.

Nero Fala, formerly of Earth, was a founding member of Galaxy Garrison and the Galactic Alliance. When Earth was on the verge of its third world war, he traveled into space in search of intelligent life on one of the planet's last space missions. He was caught in a meteor field and nearly destroyed when his small craft containing himself and three others were saved by an unknown ship.

The ship turned out to be from Herclean, a distant planet that had been on a mission of knowledge. Their purpose was to plot out maps of different galaxies to be sold to other planets. Upon learning of life beyond the Milky Way, Nero dove into learning all he could about the different galaxies and planets out in the vast universe.

While en route back to Earth to introduce his home to the extraterrestrial beings, the Herclean ship was attacked by a Drulean raider. The scientific ship was easily plundered and all beings were captured and sent to the prisons of planet Daxus.

In the prisons with numerous other species of beings that had been captured as well over the years, Nero plotted their escape and triumph over Daxus. He made treaties with the other prisoners to help one another escape, and later prevent Drule's forces from overcoming them again. The name of the treaty was Galactic Alliance, and the name of the militia that would guard the planets within the Alliance was called Galaxy Garrison.

Escape for Nero and the other prisoners came easy because not long after, planet Daxus was attacked by the Acasians, another species of alien that was seeking revenge for the pillaging of their planet, and in turn took all prisoners they could hold with them.

The Acasians immediately agreed to be a part of the Galactic Alliance and soon, Galaxy Garrison was forming from the allegiance of over a dozen different planets in four solar systems. Finally ready to go home again, Nero Fala returned to Earth to see it had been devastated by the third world war and worse yet, already pillaged by the Drulean Empire.

Many of Earth's cities and countries were unlivable due to gratuitous nuclear weapon use and the planet itself seemed on the verge of dying. Wishing to save his home world's people, Nero begged the Alliance to assist him in evacuating the last of Earth's citizens that had not been captured by the Empire. The Alliance agreed to help evacuate, but there was no room for the Earthlings on any of their planets, so Nero went in search of a new home for his people.

Altea was a near perfect match, and even better, was yet to be settled. Earthlings were shipped in by the thousands and with the assistance of the Alliance, were able to establish several prosperous cities in a matter of years instead of decades. Being the founding father of their new home, Nero Fala was decreed king of the planet and his heirs the royal monarchy.

Nero lived to watch his son, and later his granddaughter, rule peacefully over their citizens, which had been primarily humans, but in later years, become a large mix of species since Nero's policy was to take in anyone who had lost their home, not just earthlings. The menace of Drulean forces slipped from everyone's mind in wake of the prosperity the planet had seen and lack of threat from them eased all wariness.

Then Doom's forces came.

Planet Doom, originally thought to be uninhabitable, had been occupied by Drulean forces secretly in order to conquer all planets within that system. It took only a matter of months before they had all but squashed any form of resistance.

Altea's reigning king Noah beseeched the Galactic Alliance to help them, but their pleas appeared to fall on deaf ears. No assistance came, and for the next three hundred years, Altea was subject to constant and cruel plundering.

"When I say we begged," Allura clarified, "I mean we got down on our knees and pleaded for our very lives, and no assistance came. No one in the Alliance or Garrison alike would come near our planet."

"I believe you," Takashi muttered. "I have thought Galaxy Garrison to be corrupt for a very long time now. But I guess the Alliance is just as corrupt."

"So it would seem," Allura agreed. "About five hundred years ago, my forefather Lynus Fala sent his people into the caves to live, since virtually all of the cities above ground had been decimated. He began digging in order to ensure adequate space for our people when he happened upon something unexpected.

"A yellow, mechanical lion head," she revealed. "He'd assumed it was attached to a feline body, probably not unlike what you see of Aojishi. But he kept digging and instead found that the lion head was merely a foot attached to a leg.

"It took several more generations of digging," she told him, "but they finally completely uncovered the mechanical being. It was slightly damaged due to the amount of time it must have spent buried beneath the rocks. Josei Fala believed that the being, deemed a robot, had fallen to Altea so long ago that the mountains and rock grew over and around him.

"Regardless," she continued, "Josei and his daughter Lila spent years trying to learn and understand the technology within the robot. Power supplies were there, the circuits were intact, however no life, artificial or otherwise, could be shaken from the robot.

"Unfortunately, Lila Fala was stolen away and killed in an attack by Doom's forces not long after," she went on. "Josei was devastated, but also was under pressure to produce another heir. He did so, but was killed not long after himself. The Fala legacy was left to an infant boy named Ryou, who had little to ensure his survival in such harsh times.

"It is not known how," she said, setting her jaw, "but when Ryou was only thirteen years old, he managed to bring the robot he called Voltron back to life. The robot wasted no time in vanquishing our enemies and sending the Drule Empire away whimpering. It was at that time, when our enemy had been cast away, that Galactic Alliance finally came to us."

Her tone was bitter.

"They insisted that Voltron was a part of planet Altea," she spat, "and since Altea belonged to the Galactic Alliance that rightfully, Voltron belonged to them."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Takashi agreed solemnly. "What did Ryou Fala do?"

"Being only thirteen years old," she answered, pulling a half smile, "he told them to bugger off."

Takashi laughed. "Oh, I wish I could have been there for that."

"Voltron stayed here on Altea to defend us from forces that would harm us," she began again. "He did not speak, per se, but Ryou understood him perfectly, as did his own son Lucious. During Lucious' time, Drule's attacks became fewer and fewer until it seemed they had stopped altogether. Acting on Voltron's wishes, Lucious put Voltron into hibernation. The process of how he did it, and likewise, how to resurrect Voltron, was only passed down from king to heir, so I've never learned what truly happened, but the end result is what you saw today."

Takashi waited for her to finish explaining.

"And that would be…?" he prompted after a moment.

"The lions," she answered, nodding towards Aojishi. "Each lion is a part of Voltron, separated. The only written information on how to resurrect Voltron is to use the keys within the lions, but I trust the lions more than I trust what was written. According to the lions, the keys allow a pilot to take complete control over it and in turn, assemble Voltron, given a certain command and 'sacrifice'."

"So that's why Raible wants the keys so badly," Takashi mused.

"He believes that Voltron will save our people," Allura agreed. "But the lions are strong and full of power, as you saw today. Giving that power over completely to someone that, for example, I just met today is a stupid decision, and I will not permit it. I knew that much when I was younger. That's why I took the keys to Aka's lava pit and threw them in."

"I see," he said. "And that was the only reason you threw them in? What about this 'sacrifice' you and Raible mentioned?"

She set her jaw again. "The pilots must sacrifice their lives to assemble Voltron."

"You're lying again," he accused. "You hesitate and set your jaw right before you lie."

She frowned at him. "Doesn't matter."

She wasn't going to budge and tell the truth.

"Tell me more about the lions," he requested, changing the subject. "Why is Aojishi such an ass, for example?"

Aojishi snarled quietly.

"As I said before, the lions each form a part of Voltron," she answered. "Ao and Ki are the legs, Aka and Midori the arms. Kuro is the torso. That's part of why the others listen to him more. Kuro is literally the brains in the unit. He is honorable and strong, knowing how and when to attack.

"Midori is quiet and curious, I suppose," she mused. "He isn't lazy, but is more precautious than the other lions. His opposite is quite literally Ki. Ki is impatient and always eager to fight, sometimes leaping before looking. Believe it or not, Aka actually has the biggest attitude, not Ao. He will not hesitate to state his displeasure in a situation and let you know he is unhappy.

"Ao is my lion," she lamented sweetly. "He has always thought so, and I've just stopped arguing with him over the years. He is stubborn at times, but very smart. That's why he's second in command under Kuro. They clash a lot, but always manage to get the job done."

"Why does Ao think he's yours?" Takashi asked.

"As you heard earlier," she said, "during my argument with Coran, Ao saved me when I was a baby. Zarkon had managed to capture myself, my mother, and my three siblings and stole us all away to planet Doom. He baited my father away from Altea by killing my mother and brothers and broadcasting it to our entire world. He then said he'd do the same to me if my father did not surrender to him.

"My father, against orders of the royal advisory committee, climbed in Aojishi and set off for planet Doom," she told him. "He left a message for Coran, my uncle on my mother's side, to take care of me in his stead and watch over our planet. With Ao, my father crashed through Doom castle in order to take them by surprise and rescue me. He stole me away from the witch that guarded me and put me within Ao and ordered the lion to return to Altea and above all, keep me safe."

Aojishi whined sadly in the dark.

"My father lost his life in the ensuing battle, and Aojishi barely made it away from planet Doom intact," she continued. "He crash landed back on Altea and hid within the caverns, hiding me from anyone he considered to be a threat."

"Including Raible," Takashi chuckled.

"Ao truly believes that only he can keep me safe," Allura stated. "So he's a little possessive about me, and was so with Coran. He's gotten better over the years, though."

"I'll have to take your word on that," he smiled. "Why do the lions need pilots to fight? They seemed to do pretty well without our interference."

"In a way, it comes down to two heads are better than one," she revealed. "The lions know what their primary functions are. They depend on pilots for external input."

"A warm body," Takashi muttered, recalling Lance's assessment.

"Presumably," she continued, "pilots are needed for assembly of Voltron. Aojishi agrees with that, and likely that is the reason he tolerates a pilot at all."

"He does more than tolerate you," Takashi pointed out.

"I know he does," Allura agreed, looking into the darkness. "But there are some things even he can't protect me from."

Takashi had no clue as to what she meant, but from her body language during the conversation, it likely had to do with the 'sacrifice.'

* * *

**A/N:** Review for what you think so far :)


	5. Stolen

**A/N:** Like NOBODY reviewed chapter 4. So sad. But here's chapter 5 anyway. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Five: Stolen**

"There you are, Takashi," Akira said, entering the cavern. "Did you see those home bases? Pretty crazy shit."

"And those lions weren't crazy enough?" Takashi answered. "I've seen my fair share of crazy today. I'm good."

Pidge, Lance and Hunk wandered in as well.

"Midori wants to do a preliminary run to check for other ground forces, but says he can't until you let him," Pidge broke in, walking over to Allura. When she was sitting down, he was actually taller than her. Something he noted with pleasure and couldn't help smiling at.

"Are his repairs complete?" she countered. "What he wants to do and what he should do are two different things."

"Sure, sure," he nodded enthusiastically. "So can he go?"

Allura rolled her eyes. "Fine. But just Midori. One lion is going to attract enough attention as it is."

"Yes!" Pidge cried, and then ran back out of the cavern.

"Enthusiastic, much?" Lance taunted. "Geez, that kid doesn't have focus sometimes."

"Like you don't want to get back into a lion and see what it can do," Hunk goaded. "You're just as eager."

Allura regarded them all coolly. "I shouldn't let any of you in them. You are all strangers to me."

"Not me," Takashi denied. "We just sat here and had a deep and meaningful conversation. That's gotta count for something."

"Other than your name, I know only that you are quiet and extremely attentive to detail," Allura summed up. "Hardly grounds for being familiar with someone."

"What else do you want to know?" he inquired lightly, shrugging his shoulders. "I'll tell you anything you want."

"Anything? Very well. In order to enlist in the royal army," Allura began, "a person must provide detailed background information, as well as character references and have a steady family history on our planet. How's that for starters?""

Takashi was undeterred. "Well, my full name is Takashi Danmari Shirogane. I was born on the craggy rock that used to be Earth twenty-two years ago to my parents Rumiko and Tsao Shirogane. We were captured by Drule's forces and sent to planet Doom when I was three and that was the last I ever saw of them. I can't provide much for character references except those hard-heads over there because the last nineteen years of my life were spent in the slave prisons of planet Doom."

He paused to regard her countenance.

"I was not aware that anyone still resided on Earth," she commented quietly. "That anyone _could_."

"Not so much anymore," Takashi shrugged. "It's little more than an asteroid with atmosphere somehow still attached to it."

To Takashi, she seemed puzzled, even somewhat depressed at the mention of Earth. Wanting to draw her out of her sudden sadness, he did the one thing he knew would get a reaction: he goaded her.

"So, do I pass your assessment?" he asked, somewhat cockily. "Or do I need to go back to Doom to get better character references?"

Her jaw clenched in contempt. In the darkness, Aojishi growled.

"Well," she finally said. "It seems you pass in Aojishi's mind. But are you sure you want to pilot him on a permanent basis? You would have to truly enlist in the royal army."

Takashi's eyebrows lowered in contemplation, while Akira's rose in disbelief. Akira hadn't ever known Takashi to agree to join any sort of military establishment. Thanks to Galaxy Garrison, Takashi out right hated the idea of military control. It seemed that Allura sensed how important of a decision Takashi's joining was, too.

"Bear in mind," she added, "in allowing you to join the royal army and pilot a lion, you must follow my directions. _All_ of them."

Takashi smirked. "Except the ones Raible contradicts?"

"If it was Raible's royal army, you wouldn't be seeking _my_ permission to enter it, would you?" she responded.

The smirk changed into a grin. "Even better. I'm in."

He turned to the dark tunnel where Aojishi hid. "Come on, nuisance. You need repairs. You can't protect jack shit like that."

The lion snarled at him, but let him enter anyway. They heard the lion crawling backwards in the tunnel for awhile until the sound died away altogether.

"Raible said you only like being a princess when it gets you what you want," Akira mentioned, breaking the silence. "How convenient."

Allura glared at him disdainfully. "What good is being a princess if all it does is cause everyone to want to put you in a box where you're safe and have the best view of watching everyone else die on your behalf?"

"You've sure got the princess attitude down," he told her.

"And that is exactly why you will never enlist in the royal army," she predicted. "You would not concede to following my direction."

"You direction isn't always right," he challenged.

"My purpose is to keep my people and my lions safe," she nearly yelled. "My orders ensure that."

"The lions are meant to keep the people safe," he disagreed, matching her volume. "That you can't see that proves you have no idea what you're doing."

"You think you could do better?" she guessed. "Forgive me if I _don't_ want to see you try. My rule has reduced population death by Drule invasion down to only five percent, and for the first time in eleven generations, our population has grown. I'd wager I have a fair idea of what I'm doing."

"But it hasn't stopped the oppression," he pointed out. "You cower in your damn caves and wait for the Drule Empire to forget about you. You don't do a damn thing proactive to rectify your situation."

"And what is there to do, may I ask?" she spat. "Though it has grown, my planet's population barely reaches two hundred thousand people. That is the amount carried on a Drule flag ship like the Kaosen every day. You want me to put pitch forks in their hands and have my people run at them? Yes, you're right. That will solve _everything._"

"I bet they'd rather fight than cower," he told her.

"Insolent, arrogant ass!" she cried. "Never again will you pilot a lion. You only wish to rush head long into fights and never think of the consequences."

"Kuro liked me just fine," he responded. "I bet it wouldn't take much persuading to get him to side with me over you."

Her eyes widened in contempt. "I could force him not to."

"But you don't like doing that, do you?" he goaded. "Throwing your weight around with the lions. It's because you know it's wrong, don't you? That you're wrong every time you go against them."

She slapped him, and the sound of it reverberated throughout the cavern.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave," Akira said quietly. With one last look of anger, he turned on his heel and strode towards the exit of the cavern.

"Twenty-four hours," Allura said haltingly. Akira paused in walking.

"For what?" he asked, not looking at her.

"You have twenty-four hours to find a way off this planet," she elaborated. "Or I will hand you over to the Drulean forces myself."

He whirled around to look at her. "Excuse me?"

"I did not stutter," she answered, then left herself, her boot steps the only sound in the cavern slowly fading away.

"Damn," Lance muttered, rolling his shoulder to rid them of the tension that had been building throughout the argument. "What do we do now?"

"You think she meant all of us?" Hunk asked.

"I don't want to find out," Lance answered.

Akira, who had been standing stock still where he'd stopped, finally came to action. He walked over to the communications desk that Raible had used earlier and called up Pidge.

"What's the word, Shorty?" he asked.

"Nothing on the surface," Pidge answered. "But Midori ran a long-distance scan and saw that more battle cruisers are being readied for deployment in space."

"Good," Akira murmured.

"Good?" Pidge repeated.

"We need one of those cruisers," Akira told him. "Stay on the surface and see if you can get their attention. We need one of them to land so we can commandeer it."

Pidge's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Why?"

"Because we've apparently outworn our welcome," Akira revealed. "We have until tomorrow to leave Altea or the _princess_ is going to hand us over."

Pidge had nothing to say to that.

"Send word when they deploy," Akira instructed him, then cut the communications line.

"You're not even going to appeal to Raible to overturn her?" Lance asked.

"I don't want to stay on this planet anymore than she wants us here," Akira almost hissed. "Do you?"

"I guess not," Lance shrugged. "She is a bit of a bitch."

Akira thought it polite to let Takashi know that they were leaving. Somehow, he doubted the pig-headed girl's threat applied to him. He called up Aojishi's communication line.

"She is a little right, though," Lance conceded. Akira looked at him in disbelief.

"These people have no chance in a war against the Empire," he elaborated. "It'd be Earth all over again."

Damn him, Akira thought. Lance had unintentionally called up a comparison that Akira couldn't ignore.

"Calling to give me crap for caving to a pretty woman?" Takashi guessed when the communication line had been established. Akira refocused.

"That, and let you know we'll be leaving pretty soon," Akira said. "The _princess_ has given us one day to get off this planet."

Takashi shook his head at Akira. "You must have pissed her off something fierce."

"The truth hurts, I guess," Akira relented. "We're going to steal one of those cruisers when they come down for a second attack. You like us enough to help us steal one?"

Takashi chuckled. "I suppose. Don't know about Aojishi, though."

Takashi paused, reading something Aojishi had responded.

"There's a surprise," he muttered sarcastically. "He doesn't want to help you steal a cruiser."

Takashi read further.

"Are you serious?" he asked flatly.

Akira watched as Takashi's face grew irritated.

"What do you want me to do about it?" he countered. Whatever the lion's answer was, Takashi didn't like it. "Fine. Have it your way."

Akira waited for Takashi to address him again.

"Nuisance lions," Takashi muttered. "I am supposed to tell you three to go back to the lions and 'pretend' that I don't know. The princess will probably come here and seek condolence in Aojishi and you guys can steal the other lions."

Akira blinked. "Aojishi wants us to…steal the other lions?"

"No, Aojishi wants you to rot in hell," Takashi reiterated. "The other lions want you to steal them. Kurojishi ordered Aojishi not to say anything to Allura."

After a moment, Akira chuckled. "I knew he was smart."

"Kurojishi says hurry up," Takashi relayed, then paused. "Okay fine. He actually said, 'make haste.' But essentially he means get your asses in gear."

Akira cut the communication line and turned to the others.

"You really want to steal a lion?" Lance confirmed. "It could be a trap."

"It could be a way off this planet," Akira countered. "Let's go."

.o0o.

"Insufferable," Allura muttered, half jogging to the water-based home of her lion. "Presumptuous."

She saw Takashi leaning against the wall when she entered while Aojishi ran diagnostics.

"I despise your character references," she spat at him.

"I offered to go to Doom to get others," he reminded her. "He said you kind of banished them."

"Him," she amended. "I could care less if the others stayed. They are not nearly as arrogant and self-righteous as your friend Akira."

Takashi snorted. "He's not my friend."

Allura stopped her angry pacing to regard him. "Then why are you with him?"

"A means to an end," Takashi answered. "I wanted off Doom. He's clever. With his help, I knew I'd be able to get off Doom and I did."

"And, pray tell, is your time here another means to an end?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nope," he denied. "This is the end. I doubt I could get any farther away from Galaxy Garrison's reach without becoming a Drule soldier myself."

Some of her suspicion died. "True. But you have agreed to fight for this planet until the day you die. Or I die, whichever comes first."

It probably shouldn't have, but it bothered Takashi how nonchalantly she disregarded her own death.

"Why would you?" she inquired. "You've known me less than ten hours and been on this planet for less than a day. Why would you agree to fight for it?"

"I like the view," he answered smarmily, smacking her on the butt as he stepped past her. She squawked in indignation and Aojishi snarled in anger. "Relax, kitty. I was just joking around."

"I hardly find it funny," Allura snapped. "If Coran saw you do that, he'd have you executed for it. And I would be sorely tempted not to stop him."

Takashi was ignoring her rants, staring up at Aojishi thoughtfully.

"In a way, this is the last of my heritage," he said quietly. "Earth's all but gone. Unlivable. There's no going back to it. But here, well, this is where we were meant to come, if Doom hadn't captured us first. It's kind of like I can fight for revenge against what was done to my planet and her people. And, if I protect your planet at the same time, all the better. Maybe someday, this will even feel like home to me."

Allura silently regarded him for a moment. "Either you are an extremely skilled liar, or you are being unusually honest."

"Why would it be unusual?" he asked, smirking.

"For someone who holds no emotional attachment to his fellow escapees," she said, "that was a surprisingly emotional answer."

"Analytical," he teased her. "Do you trust anyone not to lie to you?"

"The lions," she answered immediately. His eye twitched and he turned away from facing her. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You know something," she accused, stepping around to face him again. "Tell me."

Takashi looked briefly to Aojishi, and then back to Allura.

"Kurojishi ordered him not to tell you," he began, "but he didn't order me. And I wouldn't listen to him if he had, probably."

"Speak what you know," she demanded, a desperate edge in her voice.

"Lance, Hunk and Akira are going to steal the other three lions," he revealed, watching shock set in on her face. "Under Kurojishi's recommendation."

He expected her to curse, to scream obscenities, to flail her fists and hit him for not telling her sooner. Instead, tears slipped silently down her cheeks. She looked hurt. Positively dejected.

"Son of a bitch," she whispered, looking over to Aojishi. The lion mewed sadly. "Is this your recommendation too?"

Aojishi gave no audible response that Takashi could hear, but he perceived from Allura's body language that the lion had given an answer and she'd understood it as an affirmative.

"I know you want to fight," she sobbed, "I know you do. And I know you've been waiting a long time. But it would be best if you could wait just a little while longer."

She was pleading to the lion.

"One or two more generations," she begged. "Let our population grow again. Let us build up our defenses and put together a strong army to support you."

Again, Aojishi made no sound, but Takashi could tell from Allura's demeanor, her request had gone denied. She turned to Takashi with a look of desperation on her face.

"Please! Go with them!" she pleaded. Takashi raised his eyebrows in surprise. That wasn't exactly what he was expecting her to say. "Please! Go and make sure they don't take the lions to Galaxy Garrison. I beg you."

"You don't have to beg for that," Takashi muttered quickly. "But you need to do something first."

She looked puzzled.

"Say it to him," Takashi said, pointing to Aojishi. "And he can relay it to the others. Tell the lions that my command outranks theirs. Order it."

Fear replaced the puzzlement.

"You can trust me," he assured her, taking her hand. "I promise."

The fear was still there, but she turned to Aojishi anyway.

"Yammis nando," she told the lion. "Takashi loun vunda Kurojishi da."

Takashi watched while Aojishi's red eyes glowed white for a moment, then returned to red.

"Okay," Takashi said. "Let's go, kitty. We don't want them trying to leave us behind."

Aojishi growled in contempt at the pet-name, but swallowed Takashi into the cockpit anyway.

"Hey, Pidge, where are ya?" Takashi asked, buckling in.

"Waiting for the others," Pidge answered. "Did your lion just do something weird again? Midori acknowledged a command and I didn't give him one."

"Don't worry about it," Takashi dismissed. "What's the status on the cruisers?"

"They look ready to deploy, but they aren't," Pidge said. "They're just hovering above the atmosphere. It's weird."

"Can you monitor their communications?" Takashi asked.

"No," Pidge denied. "Not while they're outside the atmosphere. That's probably why they're up there."

"Takashi, why is my lion cursing you?" Akira asked, joining in on their conversation.

"I'd imagine that it has something to do with my orders outranking his now," Takashi chuckled.

**Kuro: Affirmative. Bastard.**

Lance whistled. "Didn't know the lions cursed."

"By the way, Akira," Takashi added, "she only meant you. But now that you guys have 'stolen' the lions, she might change her mind."

"I didn't steal Midori," Pidge argued. "She said I could take him out."

"Incoming," Hunk announced, claiming everyone's attention.

"They're sending down five cruisers per lion," Pidge rattled off. "I think they mean to keep us separated this time."

"Let's disappoint them," Akira suggested. "You ready, Kuro?"

**Kuro:…**

Why was Kuro hesitating, Akira wondered.

**Kuro: Awaiting orders.**

"Oh, I bet it pisses you off to do that," Takashi guessed.

**Kuro: Affirmative. Bastard.**

"Well, how about I play nice and let you use your discretion for the time being," Takashi suggested.

**Kuro: Agreed. Bastard.**

.o0o.

"There you are, Allura," Raible huffed, entering the water base.

"I am here, Coran," she agreed, sitting on the floor and staring into the empty space where Aojishi usually sat.

"Kaosen has launched over twenty ships down into our atmosphere," he told her. "Are the lions deployed?"

"Yes, Coran," she answered.

"Good," Riable sighed. "I'm glad you decided it's time to start taking my advice."

Allura didn't answer. She was thinking about how stupid it was of her to issue that order. Takashi could have been lying through his teeth to her and may order the lions straight to Galaxy Garrison. She shuddered at the thought.

"Come, we must monitor communications for them," Raible told her.

"No," she denied. "I will wait here for his return."

Raible frowned at her. "You mustn't neglect your duty."

"My duty," she said quietly, "is to be princess of Altea. Not a soldier, Coran."

Raible looked surprised. "And what brought you to this conclusion, may I ask?"

"I came to the realization that no matter how hard I try," she answered, "that I cannot be both. I must be one. And it seems to be the princess of Altea is the right one."

"And the princess of Altea would sit here and wait for Aojishi to come back?" Raible surmised.

"No," she disagreed. "The princess of Altea would trust the lions and their pilots."

Raible was somewhat astonished, and knew better than to argue with such a clear headed decision.

"And so it is," he agreed, and headed back towards the communications cavern. Still, she looked so frightened that Raible couldn't help but give her what assurance he could. "Aojishi will be fine and will return to you soon."

But Allura wasn't waiting for Aojishi. She was waiting for Takashi.

* * *

**A/N:** Review please!


	6. Nightmare

**Chapter Six: Nightmare**

Allura paced agitatedly in front of Aojishi's docking station. The pacing still didn't cease when Takashi had landed and later exited the lion.

"I'd say your kitties don't much like me right now," Takashi guessed.

"They'd dislike you less if you did not patronize them," Allura pointed out. "But still, I am glad to see you have come back."

Takashi assessed her expression. "You didn't expect me to."

"It is very hard to blindly trust someone you have just met," Allura reasoned. "But this helps."

"Any idea how long I'm going to have to spend proving to you that you can trust me?" he asked, a little rudeness tingeing his tone.

"I'm trying," she began to argue, but dropped the effort. "I am going to see Aka. Would you like to join me?"

"Can I have something to eat afterwards?" he bartered.

"It can be arranged," she consented, then made her way toward the exit. "Though food is scarce in abundance. You may end up eating something you don't like."

"I'll try anything once," he pledged. The cavern system that connected all of the lions was fairly well kept. They were free of rubble and all supported with beams where necessary. Only the old-fashioned torches burning along their way gave the impression of primitivity. All electricity was being used in the lions' bases only in attempt to keep from being noticed. Takashi could tell when they got close to Akajishi's den because the heat grew in intensity until he was sweating under his collar.

"The piping from Aka's den serves to heat our caves for kilometers," Allura mentioned, pointing to the pipes now lining the ceiling. "We are grateful for it, but it does not make venturing into his home any more pleasurable."

Takashi spotted Lance being dropped onto the ground from his lion's mouth.

"Damn it, when are you going to stop hating me?" Lance asked, standing up from the floor. Aka growled low.

"He says it's not you he hates," Allura translated. "But he doesn't like you much either."

Lance regarded her warily. "So, uh, about that banishment…"

"I should banish you," she muttered disdainfully. "But it would not do me any good, since likely Raible would overturn my decision."

Lance looked relieved, but only slightly. "And Akira?"

"_His_ condemnation still stands," she hissed. Aka mewed noisily, unwilling to sit still in his docking bay. "I will not change my mind, Aka. Furthermore, Kurojishi deserves more punishment than he got for his scheming."

Aka started roaring loudly.

"Perhaps it _is_ a punishment for you, too," Allura snapped at him. "Did you think I would just lie down and take this uprising? I'm half tempted to let Ao have his way with the three of you for your insubordination."

Aka growled low.

"I'll keep that in mind next time you _demand_ something of me," she spat. Akajishi finally sat down in his docking bay and Allura turned back to the men. "Return to the main cavern. Coran will provide you with food. In the mean time, I have something I need to discuss with the lions. If you'll excuse me."

She walked over to the edge of the platform where Akajishi's head sat level. Without an order, he opened his large jaw and allowed her to enter the cockpit unprotested. It felt odd being inside Aka instead of Ao. Essentially, the interior design was the same, but the difference in personality between the two lions was palpable.

"You have kept something from me," she began quietly.

**Aka: Unintentional.**

"Why?"

**Aka: Happier.**

"That implies that your deception was intentional. Would you ever have told me?"

**Aka:…**

Allura sighed. "Where are the keys, Aka?"

**Aka:…**

"Aka, I love you very dearly," she told him. "And the day I threw the keys into the pit, it was because I worried about someone using them against you in an evil way. I couldn't bear the thought. Now, forced to face the idea that Coran will give them to whomever he sees fit if he gets them, I am determined to retrieve them so that I might give them to those who prove to be true guardians of our world."

**Kuro: Fear.**

Kurojishi was eavesdropping, as usual.

"Yes, Kuro, I did fear things, too," she admitted harshly. "I was truly afraid of dying then. But now, I understand and accept the responsibility of what I am."

**Kuro: Princess.**

She snorted. "That too."

**Ao: Mine.**

Despite her displeasure with Kuro, Ao's input made her smile. "Possessive nuisance."

**Kuro: Blue pilot. Dislike. Disapproval.**

"Yes, well the Black pilot has my dislike and disapproval, so we're even," Allura snapped at Kurojishi. "You _ordered_ Ao not to say anything to me. And do you order Aka to keep from telling me where the keys are?"

**Kuro: Aka retains all keys.**

Allura's eyebrows rose. "Aka has all five keys?"

**Kuro: Six.**

Allura's eyebrows dropped in confusion. "Six keys? There is a sixth key?"

**Kuro: Princess.**

"Kuro, I do not understand," she told him. "I am not a key. I am the sacrifice."

**Kuro: Key.**

Allura sighed, trying to understand the lion. They had a limited vocabulary, and sometimes the words they said had double meanings. Key…Key…It could mean anything from an item used to open a lock to a translation map.

"I am a key," she mused aloud.

**Kuro: The key.**

_The_ key?

"Explain," she requested, not sure what she'd get.

**Kuro: Cannot combine without the key.**

They couldn't combine without any of the keys. This was more confusing than before.

"If I am the key," she began, "then what did I throw into Aka's pit?"

**Kuro: Keys.**

Allura sighed in frustration. "I do not understand."

Aka whined pitifully before a drawer opened underneath the command chair. Five ovular badges sat within it. Allura recognized them instantly as the keys, but just to be sure, she picked one up and pushed the sides together. The oval became a circle as a golden key sprouted from one side.

A glow shone from Aka's console. It was where the key naturally belonged. She faltered once, then put the key in its socket. A new console rose from underneath it, displaying Aka's readiness to become the right arm. Systems were ready, but he was waiting for the command.

"What is the command?" she wondered. An incoming transmission interrupted her thoughts.

"Princess," Coran began. "You are still conferring with Akajishi?"

"I am finished now," she told him, removing the key from Aka's console. "I will return immediately."

"Did you really banish one of the pilots?" he asked quietly.

"I will fight you if you overturn that decision," she stated. "Good pilot or not, he does not rationally think out his decisions before acting, and he will not obey my commands. He tried to steal Kurojishi and I will not have him within a lion again. Period."

Coran let loose a sigh of disapproval, but didn't argue. "Please return soon before the pilots eat your dinner."

The transmission cut, and Allura looked at the key in her hand. She couldn't imagine giving the key to one of the pilots, even Takashi. She pocketed it and closed the drawer with the others in it.

"Continue to keep them safe, Aka," she pleaded. She slid from the cockpit back to the hot platform. It was a short walk back to the main cavern, so she intentionally walked slowly, not excited to be back in the company of the escapees again. Absently, she fingered the key in her pocket.

All lure about how to resurrect Voltron was purely speculative. Like previous king Ryou, she was pretty much figuring it out as she went, but from the other end of it. The lions had consciousness and power enough between them, but she knew not how to revive Voltron.

There were countless theories of how things were supposed to work, but it was all speculative. The best information she had about it had been passed on to her from an enemy that was in the midst of torturing her…

She shook herself to block out that memory. It had been crippling then and she didn't need a relapse into that. Besides, he was nowhere near Altea anymore.

"You weren't kidding," Takashi called to her. "The food sucks here."

She snorted. "Then why did Coran think it necessary to call me back before my meal was eaten for me?"

"Because we're not the only ones here who would run off with a lion," Akira muttered. Allura did her best to ignore him.

Coran sat a few meters away from the rest of them and Allura walked to him directly based on the look he gave her.

"You may not banish him," Coran told her quietly, holding up a hand to request a moment to finish his thought. "We take in refugees, my dear. _All_ refugees. It is understandable if you do not want him piloting a lion, I cannot overturn that decision, but do not disgrace the generations of royalty that came before you and banish him based on pure dislike."

Allura listened with patience, but her expression was far from appeased. "And if he attempts to steal a lion again?"

"That," Coran assented, "is a criminal offense, whether or not Kuro wants him to do so. This last time, I will grant him amnesty since doing so prevented an attack that could have been devastating. But I will not do so again."

She nodded once in acceptance, and then stepped away, walking back toward the refugees.

"Have you heard from Gorosei, Coran?" she asked. Coran cleared his throat.

"Several times," he grumbled. "He was as amused with your field trip out in Aojishi as I was."

"Then I can expect to wear ear plugs at our next conference," she assumed. "Shall we take bets on how long he berates me?"

Takashi chuckled. "Tell him to 'bugger off.'"

Allura could not contain her smile. Coran eyed the camaraderie between them with a scrutinizing eye.

"Am I banished?" Pidge asked suddenly. Allura rolled her eyes.

"No, you are not," she informed him. "I believe that Midori would mutiny if I did."

A relieved smile broke out across his face. She could not help but smile back.

"This reminds me of runny eggs and cold oatmeal," Hunk stated, pushing at his food with a spoon. "Still better than prison food, though."

"Not by much," Lance muttered.

"Midori said I need to get a key from you," Pidge continued. "What's the key for?"

The smile disappeared from her face. "That is not _his_ to issue."

"What's it for?" he asked again. Allura sighed in disdain. This was probably Kuro's doing. Making her explain to the men that were the lions' pilots the theoretical use of the keys.

"It is a part of the assembly process of Voltron," she answered. Akira and Lance perked up.

"Voltron?" Akira repeated. "You're kidding."

"It really exists?" Lance asked. "No way."

Hunk and Pidge both looked like they had no idea what she'd spoke of.

"It's here?" Akira jumped up, his dinner forgotten.

"Those lions…?" Lance trailed off, also forgetting his dinner, but perhaps more purposefully than Akira.

"The keys are only one part," she began. "They allow for the ability for the lions to accept the command to assemble Voltron. The second requires a sacrifice. That's all the details I have. Everything else is a mystery, since my father died before being able to pass on the lore to me."

Coran piped up. "The lions know what to do. The details do not matter."

"Enough, Coran," Allura bit. "Details _do_ matter. And the lions are not all-knowing."

"Fair to assume they know more than you," Akira muttered. For the second time in ten minutes, Allura checked her patience with the young man. Sensing Allura's displeasure, Coran decided it was best to check the boy.

"Fair warning to all of you," he said in a voice that caught all of their attention. "What was done earlier was a criminal offence, punishable by death."

He definitely had all of their attention.

"I have pardoned you on the account that while you were engaged in the lions, an attack occurred and was successfully thwarted," he went on. "However, it should be noted that now that you have been warned, if the lions are taken out without the permission of the royal line again, there will be no pardon."

A few tense moments of silence lingered.

"So tell me," Takashi finally said. "How do those five metal-head lions make a Voltron?"

"It is…" Coran began, "not known by any living person."

"That makes it pretty hard to make a Voltron then, doesn't it?" Lance observed dryly.

"The lions have knowledge," Coran put forth. "Accessible by the royal line only."

"Great," Akira muttered.

"I have asked Kurojishi about the subject several times," Allura interrupted in an irritated tone. "It comes down to needing the pilots, the keys, a sacrifice and a command. Every time I ask him about the sacrifice, he talks of the keys. Every time I ask him about the command, he talks goes back to the keys. It is infuriating."

Her expression changed slightly, and Takashi watched as she set her jaw. She was about to lie.

"I do not think he knows," she stated decidedly. "And without the keys, it does not matter."

"Your father trusted the lions," Coran interjected. "He did not worry about sacrifices and commands. He put his life in the hands of the lions and was one of this world's greatest kings."

Allura's forehead pinched together in worry. Takashi thought she looked rather ill about what Coran had said.

"If you gentlemen are done eating," she changed the subject, "I will show you to where you may sleep."

Takashi stepped up to walk beside her, but out of earshot of the others. "You're hiding things. You outright lied again."

"You're digging," she accused back. "Let it be."

"Did you ever think that a fresh mind to look at things is a good idea?" he offered. "See things from a new perspective."

She threw a quick glance behind her at Akira. "I don't like some perspectives."

Takashi snorted. "He's got an arrogant sort of attitude, but he's a smart kid. Give him some credit."

The look Allura gave him said she wouldn't be doing so any time soon.

"It is a royal secret," she reminded him redundantly. "But sometimes I don't mind input. However, Coran gives me less input lately and more orders."

"Well, here's some of my input," he started. "One: Kuro, not just Ao, has your best interests in mind. Really, he does."

"Interesting," she said flatly. "Especially coming from you."

"Two," he went on, "based on what you were saying earlier about Kuro going on about the keys, maybe the sacrifice is the key, or the key is the command."

She sighed. "Things I have considered. The physical keys allow the lions to be able to receive the command. Fine. When I ask about the sacrifice, they say it's mine to make, but I don't know what the sacrifice is."

Allura realized she slipped. She looked at Takashi with wide eyes. Politely, he ignored her distress, mulling over what she'd said.

"Three: you need to be around more than just your 'Coran' and the lions," he continued, ignoring her look. "The fact that you think that you can't talk to anyone is a little messed up."

"And associating with people you do not consider your friends is not messed up?" she countered.

"A means to an end," he repeated, shrugging.

Allura paused in the cave and turned around to address them all. "It isn't much, but it's the best we can offer. Please do not be offended."

She gestured to the next turn in the caverns. They all approached to see a deep hole form into a large underground city lit by torches and carved out of rock.

"Wow," Pidge uttered.

"Is this the cave?" Takashi asked. "Where they found Voltron?"

"Yes," Allura affirmed. "Voltron helps our people to survive even when he is not among us."

"Allura Raimon Fala!"

"Son of a bitch," she muttered, grimacing.

"What in the hell were you thinking today?" a gray-haired man demanded as he stalked toward them. "Do you realize the stupidity of your actions? Do you have any idea what could have happened?"

"Good evening to you too, General Gorosei," she greeted, looking disdainfully at the man. "How was your day?"

"I cannot believe your insolence," he spat. "To be so heavy handed with your life! It would kill your father were he not already dead."

"Hey, hey, hey," Takashi cut in. "Back off, jackass. She was trying to defend her people."

"And just who the hell are you?" Gorosei demanded. He didn't wait for an answer and turned to Allura again. "You will not be so fleeting with your life and leave us no hope and no heir."

Lance whistled. "After this conversation, I don't know if I'd want to be royalty either."

"Let it be," Allura advised, then turned back to Gorosei. "Speak with Coran. He will have good news for you then."

Gorosei passed more than a fleeting glance at the men with her now. "Are _these_ the pilots, then?"

"For the time being," she relented.

"You'd trust Drulean escapees over your own people?" Gorosei asked with petulance.

"_I_ do not _specify_ what _pilot_ a lion takes on," she hissed. "And if you do not like the lion's choices, you are free to express your displeasure to the lions themselves."

The look on Gorosei's face showed that he had no intention of doing such a thing. In the ensuing pause in argument, Allura decided to introduce them.

"Takashi," Allura gestured to each pilot. "Pidge. Hunk. Lance…and Akira. This is General Gorosei. He is the head of our royal army."

None of them exchanged pleasantries, or even a nod of acknowledgement.

"Please give them lodgings for the night," she requested. "Tomorrow, I will find a more permanent residency for them."

They all gave her a surprised look. Gorosei even managed to sputter.

"They could be Drulean spies for all you know," Gorosei argued. "You're just going to give them free reign to walk about our secret homes and access to our only hopes of survival?"

"Would you prefer them to sleep in the lions?" she countered. "Tell me, Gorosei. What will you do when my decisions will not be able to be undermined in four months?"

"Troublesome, headstrong brat," Gorosei muttered. "I would have traded your life for any one of your brothers. Curse Zarkon for leaving you alive. Raimon would still be with us if he'd just killed you with the rest of them."

"I know, I know," Allura bit. "All I'm good for is causing problems and making babies. Go to hell you bitter, old man."

Gorosei sputtered again while Allura walked away. "Insolent child!"

Allura gave no response and walked deeper into the caves. That was not the first time Gorosei had said something like that to her, but it still stung. Every single one of the old council members shared his feelings too, aside from Coran.

"I do what is best for my people," she whispered to herself. "It is what my father would have done. What all of my forefathers have done."

She wasn't reassured by her words. The truth was that some nights, alone in the dark, she agonized over the decisions she made and couldn't help but think sometimes that they were right. She should have died on Doom with her mother and brothers. Altea would have been better off.

With no one around, she could cry. She was determined not to cry in front of the men who berated her every move and thought, but when she was alone, she could let go of the pain and cry. Tears fell over her lower lashes and dripped to the ground, blurring her vision, but she knew where she was going by heart.

Aojishi whined loudly when she entered his base. She always came here when she cried because Ao's presence made her feel better. She climbed in the lion and sat in the command chair, sniffling away sobs and tears.

"I understand that you trust them," she sobbed, knowing that all of the lions would hear her. "But I can't do so blindly without reason. So tell me why you trust them."

**Kuro: Smart. Determined. Clever. Similar goal. **

**Midori: Kind. Intelligent. Curious. Happy. **

**Aka: Dislike. Easily overpowered.**

**Ki: Want to fight. **

"I did not ask if you liked him, Aka," Allura pointed out. "Why do you trust him? Ki, your answer is ridiculous. You cannot trust someone for the mere reason that you want to fight."

**Ki: Similar goal.**

Allura rolled her eyes at Ki's rewording.

**Aka: Pilot gives way. Follows direction.**

"And if your pilot were to have a key?" she suggested. "How would he follow your direction if he were in complete control?"

**Kuro: My direction.**

"Same question, Kuro," she said. "How would any pilot follow _your_ direction if he has control with a key?"

**Kuro: Similar goal.**

"He will not follow my orders," she predicted, knowing that Kuro wanted Akira as his pilot. "He is reckless. He takes unnecessary risks."

**Kuro: Edict.**

"I do not like issuing edicts," she reminded him. "They take away part of your will."

**Kuro: Acceptable.**

Allura sighed. Kuro was willing to put up with edicts if she would allow the escapees from Doom to be pilots.

"Why these men?" she asked. "Why not the hundreds of men before them that Gorosei sent to us? What is so special about these men?"

**Kuro: Earth.**

"They are from Earth?" she surmised. "So? Almost all of our ancestors are from Earth. Why does it matter with these men?"

**Kuro: Earth born.**

"I don't understand," she whispered, sitting back in her chair and rubbing her eyes. "It doesn't matter. Even with the keys, Votron will not be reborn without the sacrifice and command, and I don't know what either is."

**Kuro: Princess.**

She sighed again. This was a familiar conversation.

"What is the sacrifice, Kuro?" she asked.

**Kuro: Princess.**

"I understand that the sacrifice is mine to make," she told him. "I just don't know what the sacrifice is."

**Kuro: Princess.**

"What is the command, Kuro?" she tried.

**Kuro: Sacrifice.**

She shook her head in defeat. This conversation would only go in circles. Weariness was starting to set in. It had been a long, trying day.

.o0o.

She was running through black passages. They were unlit, but she knew where she was going. She was running to Ao. Ao would protect her.

"Gotcha!"

"No!" she screamed as she was grabbed from behind and shoved into a wall. The person that held her was much taller than her and infinitely stronger. "Leave me alone!"

"That's not nice," he said, a frown in his voice. "All I want to do is talk to you."

"No," she pleaded, whining. She knew he didn't want to just 'talk' to her. He was going to hurt her. Even as a five-year-old, she knew that.

"I'll tell you about Daisuke," he bartered lightly. Her struggling died down a little bit. "That's a good girl. I knew you'd behave. You're so much better than your brother. He fought with me to the very end."

A sob escaped her.

"You should have heard him while I tortured Sarek and Liam," he mused. "He yelled and cursed and fought to save his little brothers lives. Then it was his turn. I was going to kill you first, but he begged for me to kill him instead."

More sobs. More tears. Why had Daisuke offered to die in her place? She'd been just a stupid little baby and he'd been the last hope for Altea.

"I started at his feet," he went on, "and worked my way up. I wanted his heart to remain beating as long as possible. He'd begged for his torture and I wasn't going to disappoint him by letting him die too soon.

"I yanked out each of his toe nails and then slit his Achilles tendons. The cartilage in his knees crushed so easily, I wondered why he screamed so loudly. How could something that easily broken hurt so much? What a pathetic species you are.

"It was when I castrated him. He said something that intrigued me. He apologized to his father for no longer being able to sacrifice himself to Voltron. Such an odd thing to say. I ripped his eyes out next and then retrieved you from Honerva Haggar.

"Without being able to see you, he had no idea what I did to you to make you cry, but he begged me to stop. He said he'd do anything if I stopped hurting you. And he did exactly what I'd said."

"No," she cried again. "Stop! I don't want to hear anymore!"

"But this is the best part," he teased. "He told me the secret of Volton. Don't you want to hear it?"

She shook her head silently.

"Yes you do," he chuckled. "I had intended to kill you the moment I got what I wanted from him, but unfortunately, Daisuke said the one thing that prevented me from harming one hair on your head. He said you were the key to Volton now."

Daisuke must have been delirious. There were five keys to Voltron, and she couldn't be one. A small spell of relief at Daisuke's inaccurate confession washed over her momentarily.

"Without you, Voltron couldn't exist," he went on. "I should have broken your tiny little neck right then and there to rid the universe of Voltron, but…"

She cringed as he removed one hand that was pinning her against the wall to caress her cheek lightly.

"Power over the legendary fighter is very tempting," he finished. "And in retrospect, you won't be half bad to look at, either. It may prove to be a pleasure to father children from you and take over the line of Voltron."

"No!" she screamed again.

.o0o.

Allura sat up sharply in her chair, smacking her head against one of Ao's displays.

"Ow! Damn it!" she cursed, rubbing her head.

**Ao: Status?**

"I'm okay," she told her lion. She hadn't had that nightmare in a long time. She knew she shouldn't have thought about him earlier. Even the slightest thought had her reliving that hellish time…

**Ao: Sleep?**

"No, I'm not tired anymore," she answered. "Have you been monitoring surface conditions?"

**Ao: Ships in upper atmosphere. No aggressive movement.**

"They won't stay dormant for long," Allura predicted. "Not after two defeats in a row. They will likely be plotting another attack soon."

"I agree."

A monitor glowed to life on her left to reveal Akira, presumably in Kuro's cockpit.

"Headstrong lion," she muttered. "I should order you not to take him on as a pilot."

**Kuro: Wrong edict.**

Akira snorted. "According to Raible, you're lucky he likes me."

"And you're lucky I don't make Kuro take you into space and jettison you into the atmosphere," she answered. "Why are you invading the lions again?"

"Invading?" Akira repeated. "Whatever. He lets me in."

"What happened to sleeping?" she asked dryly.

"You missed the show," he answered. "Takashi went ballistic on that Gorosei and tried kill him I think. Anyway, he's locked up right now, and after that, Gorosei wasn't much interested in showing us a place to stay. So we decided to go with your second suggestion."

Allura thought back to her earlier conversation with Gorosei and groaned. She'd inadvertently given them permission to sleep in the lions.

"That guy's a real fucking jerk," Lance piped up, appearing on Aka's monitor. "Who does he think he is saying that crap to you? You're the princess here, aren't you? Shouldn't they be respectful?"

"Just let it be," Allura advised. "Gorosei has a bad temper and cannot control it at times. Do not hold a grudge against him for it. He's a brilliant strategist and is the reason our militia has as many members as it does."

"Still don't think it's right," Lance muttered.

**Kuro: Reconnaissance.**

It would figure that Kuro would want to go out as soon as his pilot was back.

"Fine," she relented sourly. "Report back in an hour."

**Kuro: Accepted.**

"One hour," she repeated.

**Ao: Run?**

"I am sorry, Ao," she admitted. "I may not run with you. It is forbidden."

**Ao: Mine.**

"Yes, Ao," she agreed. "But Takashi is your pilot now. I suppose I should go release him from the detention hall."

**Kuro: Bastard.**

Allura ignored Kuro and exited Ao. Likely, Gorosei would give her another earful as soon as she got there. Fun. Pidge met her half way there.

"Sorry about Hunk," he said, joining her in her walk to the detention area. "He just get's worked up real easy. And that guy Gorosei is an ass."

"Hunk?" she repeated. "I thought Takashi was the one who—"

"Yeah, him too," Pidge interrupted. "But I think we all wanted to deck that guy. So when Takashi did and some other guys came running, instinct kicked in for Hunk and he started brawling. Sorry."

"Your hearts were in the right place," she answered, "whether your minds were or not. I shall extricate them."

Luckily for her, Gorosei wasn't around when she got to the detention hall. It was easy to obtain their release.

"If I see that son of a bitch—" Takashi muttered, but Allura gave him a look that silenced him. Hunk was obtained next, looking a little shamefaced.

"Thank you for your concern," Allura told them as she led them away down more tunnels. "But do not worry about what Gorosei says. He has a short temper but a brilliant military mind."

"This place is so backwards," Hunk complained. "People hide underground, princesses run around with weapons and get berated by their commanders, and the food is terrible."

Allura chuckled through his rant. "And the refugees revolt against the government offering amnesty. It seems you fit in here quite well."

Hunk chuckled too.

.o0o.

A whole lot of nothing.

That's what Sadak had for information. Nothing was known on the lions that he hadn't already seen when his fleet had been torn apart by them.

"How could a planet nearly devoid of technology for nearly two hundred years have creatures such as these?" Sadak demanded of everyone in the near vicinity. No one answered, but they all sympathized with him.

Angered at the fact that he could not see the victory before him as he had in previous battles, he snapped at his men. "Get out! All of you! I want a moment to myself."

They all obeyed and within a minute, he was by himself on the bridge. Sadak walked to the console and called up a comm that took a lot of humility to do. Within a few moments, a blue skinned man that looked similar to Sadak, but at least one generation older appeared on the screen.

"Father," Sadak greeted with a cold nod.

"You had better be reporting your victory over Altea," was the response he got. "It is an embarrassment to your family line for this to go on so long."

Sadak bore the insult was he knew he should. "Father, I have yet to achieve my success."

The older being nearly hissed in his disapprobation.

"I have contacted you in dire need of your superior advice," Sadak went on. "Too little is known of these mechanical monstrosities and my usual tactics have not met with victory. I beg, father. Advise me."

The elder Drulean took a long moment to answer.

"I should let you rot," he finally said. "You are an unworthy bastard and I would not be saddened to see you disposed of."

Sadak took the insult in silence. He knew he'd have to endure such things until his father decided that he'd berated him enough to help. It would likely go on for some time.

"What are these so-called mechanical monstrosities?" he asked after nearly ten minutes.

"Lions. Automatronic lions," Sadak answered. "There are five of them. Their hulls appear to be as unimpregnable as their claws seem strong. They are somewhat less effective when separated, but when multiples of them collaborate, they are unstoppable. I have attempted the Gravis Korum Falgar Technique to keep them separated, as well as the Krovac Exception to outnumber them. Neither has been successful."

Another long, irritated pause ensued while the elder considered.

"Here is what you will do," he finally relented. Sadak leaned forward close to the screen with his attention rapt.

.o0o.

Akira thought it was too quiet.

"You're sure there's no movement in the upper atmosphere?" he asked.

**Kuro: Affirmative. **

"They're planning something," Akira mused aloud.

**Kuro: Agreed. **

"Is there a way to intercept their transmissions while they're up there?"

**Kuro: Negative. Atmospheric barrier prevents interception of long and short range transmissions.**

"What about a satellite?"

**Kuro: No active satellites in atmosphere.**

"Are there any satellites in the atmosphere?"

**Kuro: Negative.**

Akira puzzled it over while glancing at the chronometer.

"Shit," he muttered. "We better get back. Her 'highness' is going to start bitching soon."

Kuro began travelling back to his cave while Akira posed another theory.

"Hypothetically," he began, "you guys are space-ready, aren't you?"

**Kuro: Affirmative. Prevented by edict.**

Well that figured. "Busy-body woman."

**Kuro: Command of blue pilot. Edict prevents defiance.**

Interesting, but not surprising. Takashi hated Galaxy Garrison just as much as the Princess.

"What about the lower atmosphere?" Akira tried. "Anything preventing you from going up there?"

**Kuro: Negative.**

"Good," Akira smiled. "Here's what we're going to do. We'll get as high up as the edict allows you and when we get within shooting distance of the Kaosen, I want to launch a transmitter tracker."

**Kuro: Adhesive?**

"Yeah," Akira agreed. "A sticky. It can record any incoming or outgoing messages the Kaosen receives and transmit them in code down to us."

**Kuro: Agreed. Request permission to launch.**

"From me?" Akira asked, confused.

"From me," Takashi confirmed, showing up on a monitor. "Thanks for leaving me to the wolves, asshole."

"You don't see me decking the guy who commands this world's army," Akira answered. "It'd be easier if you'd just let us go into space."

"No one's going into space but me and the troublemaker," Takashi disagreed. "But if we did, it'd be anticipated as aggressive movement. We aren't equipped for that right now. We'll do the low flyby in order to avoid a confrontation. Just you and me."

**Kuro: Affirmative.**

.o0o.

Allura tapped her foot impatiently. "What takes him so long? I told him to be back in one hour."

"Relax," Lance advised. "He's with Takashi. They're planting a sticky."

"A sticky?" she repeated to Lance's image on the screen. Lance relayed what the purpose of a sticky was. "Will it not be detected?"

"Probably not," Pidge answered. "It's a code transmitter so they won't notice it unless they do a check for it specifically."

"It won't do us any good if the messages are encrypted," she pointed out.

"Not likely," Pidge disagreed. "If they believe this place to be as far gone as you say, they won't bother with encryption."

"In the mean time, we need to come up with some sort of plan," Lance suggested. "This repelling them when they attack us is lame."

"What do you suggest?" Allura asked dryly. "There is very little we can do beyond that."

Lance looked at one of his other monitors. "The sticky is in place. They're on their way back."

Pidge took over the station Allura had been sitting at and called up the sticky. "It appears to be online. Well, damn. We're already getting code."

Pidge stared at the read out for a few moments.

"Sending down…one cruiser per…threat," he read off slowly. "Two backups…each threat…lower atmosphere…observing."

"What does that mean?" Hunk asked.

"It means saddle up," Lance translated. "We're about to receive another attack."

* * *

**A/N:** Please review :D


	7. Comprehension

**Chapter Seven: Comprehension**

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Lance complained. "One ship per lion? This is child's play."

"There must be an underlying reason," Akira contemplated. "And what about those cruisers in the lower atmosphere? What exactly are they observing?"

"Not our fighting technique," Takashi dismissed. "They've seen plenty of that in the last two days."

"Then what are we missing?" Akira asked. "What could they want to see?"

Allura suddenly appeared on one of their monitors. "Aka, Ki, Midori! Hold positions!"

The lions halted in their cavern exits.

"What gives?" Hunk demanded.

"They are observing you!" she cried.

"No shit," Lance muttered. "What the hell's the problem?"

"Your caves are secret for a reason," she hurriedly told them. "They are looking for your bases! A way in to the caverns, and if you exit, you will undoubtedly show them."

Realization dawned on all of them.

"And we would have walked right into it," Akira realized. "Back down, guys. Takashi and I got this."

As expected, two of the six cruisers headed for them engaged in battle with them right away, while the other four hung back.

"What's the position of the other nine?" Takashi asked, easily dispatching his chosen opponent.

"Simply roaming around not far from you," Lance told him. "They're definitely looking for us."

"This is going to work fine until we have to resupply," Akira observed. "Any ideas?"

"The old tunnels," Allura suggested. "We have old service tunnels that aren't used anymore. However, you'll have to instigate sporadic cave-ins as you leave the caverns. We can't leave ourselves exposed."

"Where are they?" Hunk asked immediately.

"Yours is through the Cross Range," she answered. "Pidge, yours comes out beneath Erus Woods. Lance, you can simply exit through the lava pit above you. Akajishi can take the heat."

"Found my tunnel," Hunk announced. "Creating first cave-in."

"Damn that's hot!" Lance yelled. "Where's the fucking air conditioner?"

"I've lost sight of my two 'observation ships,'" Akira reported. "You see them, Takashi?"

"Nope, I—wait, there they are, coming up over the Cross Range," Takashi answered. "What the hell were they doing over there?"

"Hunk, check it out when you come out," Akira instructed. "Where are the rest of the cruisers?"

"Gorosei!" Allura cried into one of the other monitors, but her voice carried into their lions nonetheless. "They've deployed ground forces! Prepare for incoming assault!"

"Fuck!" Takashi yelled. "Diversion! They're distracting us on purpose! It was a plan within a plan. Clever bastards!"

"Coran! Get the laser rifles! They're within twenty meters!" Allura cried again.

"Damn it!" Takashi cursed. "Who's closest? Someone's got to go help! They're fish in a barrel down there."

"We're all at least twenty kilometers away," Pidge answered. "They drew us away on purpose!"

"Aw hell!" Lance yelled. "I'm going back! They can't follow me. Someone just get off their ass and blow that fucking flag ship out of the atmosphere already!"

They all heard Allura scream, but she was not in front of the monitor anymore. They heard laser fire in the background and crashing items. Shouts in drulean were also sporadically heard, but nothing more from Allura.

Suddenly, a loud roar nearly deafened them.

"Made it!" Lance yelled. "Pick on someone ten times your size, shitheads!"

"Damn it, Lance!" Takashi spat. "Make sure you don't kill the princess!"

"Like Akajishi would let me," Lance rolled his eyes. "She's not even in here."

"That's worse!" Takashi insisted. "Where the hell is she? Lance, follow the bastards out and make sure she didn't get herself abducted."

"Have more faith in me than that, Takashi," Allura said, appearing on a new monitor. Raible could be seen in the background, guarding the door with a laser rifle leveled. "Gorosei, how are we doing?"

"I have twenty five at each of the three entrances," Gorosei reported, appearing on another monitor. "I have sent all of our civvies deeper into the caves and have scores of my platoons waiting to backup anyone who is in need of aide."

"Good," Allura nodded. "Then as far as we know, we only have the one breech, which Lance is taking care of right now with Aka."

"Which way should Takashi and I come in for resupply?" Akira asked. "I'm just about out."

"Go by Lance and Aka," Allura instructed. "They already know about that entrance. Coran and I will make sure the supplies you need will be there."

She and Raible disappeared from the monitor only seconds before Pidge and Hunk made it to Takashi and himself.

"Tag-team is here," Pidge announced. "What's the plan?"

"Knock them down and go after the bystanders," Akira said. "Enough of this evasive bullshit. They want a fight, they're going to get one."

"Fine by me," agreed Hunk, pouncing on the two cruisers.

"We got this," Pidge told them. "Go reload and see you in a few."

Akira and Takashi directed their lions to the entrance under the Cross Range. Lance, in the red lion, was making a mess of a platoon of Druleans who were trying to get past him into the cave.

"Quit dicking with them already and get rid of them," Takashi barked. "You're going to fuck up and let one of them slip by you."

"Am not," Lance denied, almost peevishly. "I was just waiting for you guys to get here. I'm going to go join the others."

"No you're not," Akira stopped him. "You need to stay guarding the cave. Takashi and I won't be able to defend it while resupplying."

"Come on," Lance half whined, half groaned. "This is lame."

**Aka: Agreed.**

"I don't give a shit what either of you think," Takashi snapped. "Do as you're told."

Akajishi snarled at him but that was it. Lance simply looked incredulous to being ordered around in such a way.

"We're ready for you," piped up Allura's voice over the intercom.

Kurojishi and Aojishi ran down the cave tunnel towards the open cavern. Allura was there with Raible and several other men who were as yet unknown to them. All of them were hauling about different weaponry into position.

While Aojishi was loading, Takashi hopped out to make sure Allura was indeed okay. She glanced briefly at him before continuing to direct others about. She seemed well, but had an abrasion on her arm. He tried touching it but she jerked her arm away.

"Stop," she whispered. "It's fine."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing," she insisted. "Go. Return to Ao. He is ready for you."

"I want you to tell me what happened," he insisted, backing her away from everyone else and into a corner. "If you don't, I'll have Raible tie you to a chair again."

Allura's eyes narrowed at him. "I was caught off guard and tripped. On my way out of the cavern I tripped and clipped my arm against the wall."

Takashi failed at suppressing his amused smile. She smacked his arm indignantly.

"Maybe I should have him tie you to a chair anyway so you don't trip," Takashi chuckled while backing away to Aojishi. With eyes narrowed into slits, Allura stuck up the middle finger on one fist in an old Earthly gesture of indignity. Takashi laughed outright.

"Kid, I doubt you know what that means or you wouldn't be doing that," he laughed, and then entered Aojishi. The two lions disappeared into the caves again and Allura instructed those left to ready the next batch of supplies. Kijishi and Midorijishi came in next.

"How is the battle progressing?" Allura asked them. She knew they could hear her within the lions.

"We're winning," Hunk answered. Pidge was more precise.

"Eleven of the original fifteen ships are destroyed," he relayed. "We think they'll send down more as soon as the last four are destroyed, but we're thinking of making a preemptive strike on them in space."

Allura's jaw tightened. It was very hard not to issue an edict that prevented the lions from going out into space, but she knew she had to trust Takashi.

No, that wasn't it. She wanted to trust him. She didn't have to. She could issue an edict. She wanted to trust that Takashi wouldn't steer them wrong. She wanted to trust him and this would be the proof that she could. She he held her tongue and watched Kijishi and Midorijishi take off into the cave again to rejoin the battle. At almost the same moment, Akajishi skirted in.

"Need ammo," Lance called out. Servicemen ran to Akajishi and began replacing his small munitions. "Gonna blow the tunnel on my way out so stay clear. We're going up into space."

And like that, Akajishi was off again, and moments later, the sound of a cave-in was heard. Small tufts of dust and debris floated into the cavern.

Too nervous to wait for news, Allura ran back to the active console to watch the progression of her lions. Unfortunately, as soon as they left the atmosphere, she lost all communication with them.

.o0o.

"Last one!" Hunk yelled, obliterating the last cruiser. "Let's get up there already."

"One at a time," Takashi denied. "The lions haven't been space tested in fifteen years. We could all blow from the pressure. Better to test the waters."

Kijishi wasn't listening. Or at least, he deemed that he should be the first lion to try. He hit the upper atmosphere and snarled as the change in pressure began to shake the entire metallic body.

"Damn it, Hunk!" Takashi yelled, "keep that idiot lion in line!"

Kijishi went after the first barrage of cruisers that had deployed to meet them while the others slowly made it into space as well.

"I want to know the minute anything is wonky," Takashi ordered. "You got that, you pack of nuisances?"

**Kuro: Confirmed.**

**Ao: Confirmed.**

**Aka: Confirmed.**

**Midori: Confirmed.**

"Kijishi!" Takashi barked. "Confirm or I'll order you back down to the surface."

Kijishi roared, but didn't confirm.

"Oh just agree already, you hard head!" Hunk yelled at his lion. "You're not the only one who'd get kicked down there!"

**Ki: Confirmed. **

"We need a plan of attack for the Kaosen," Akira pointed out.

"I'm open for ideas," Takashi told them. "Best one I've got is to blow out their cruiser bays so they can't launch anymore of those."

"Need to disable their hyperdrive, too," Pidge added.

"Oh, hell no," Lance vowed. "These bastards aren't getting the opportunity to turn tail and run."

**Ao: Underbelly.**

"What?" Takashi asked. "Underbelly?"

"That's a great idea!" Pidge cried. "Most of the munitions are kept near the underside of Kaosen. If we attack there, it may cause a chain reaction and blow out their hyperdrive."

"Clever nuisance," Takashi praised. "You up for it, Akira?"

"S'do it," Akira agreed. "You three work on the cruiser bays."

They all departed but were greeted with the laser blasts from Kaosen itself. The underside of the ship proved to be reinforced and didn't penetrate as well as Takashi and Akira had hoped, but the other three were having success in crushing the cruiser bays.

And then, without explanation, all of the opponent fire stopped.

"Back off! Back off!" Akira yelled. "Something's going on. Minimum safe distance."

With some reluctance, the five lions gathered at a distance of six thousand meters, in the shine of the sun.

"What do you suppose is going on?" Lance asked.

.o0o.

Sadek had one last part to the plan. It was the last part because he would likely not survive it, but if it meant that the mechanical beasts were destroyed and his honor was restored, that was acceptable.

"Cease fire," he cried. His men stared at him in confusion. "I said cease fire."

The order was relayed and slowly the firing on the lions stopped. Sadek watched on the screen as the five lions regrouped and hovered in the eye of the sun's light.

"Out," he commanded. "All of you. Right now."

The soldiers filed out one by one until Sadek only was left on the bridge. He walked over to one of the communications consoles.

"Raddik, are you in position?" he asked, calling up a personal communicator.

"Yes, sir," his subordinate confirmed. "I can see the whore and her minions now."

"Good," Sadek agreed. "Wait for my signal."

With his man in position, Sadek sent an outgoing hail that he knew the lions would receive.

"Slovenly creatures," he began in drulean, "beg my forgiveness now and vow your allegiance to Lord Daibazzal Zarkon and I will make sure your death is swift."

"Fuck you."

A human voice speaking english. That they understood drulean suggested that he was speaking to at least one of the very same escaped prisoners that he'd been sent to recover.

"You should be humble," Sadek recommended. "Leniency and kindness are very rare things from my dynasty. Our cruelty, however is much more prominent."

"Says the jackass who is losing the battle."

Another english speaking, drulean understanding male. More evidence to suggest that the five lions were harboring the five prisoners within them.

"Shall I demonstrate?" Sadek suggested, smiling cruelly.

.o0o.

Allura had not given up, despite communication with the lions was lost as soon as they left the atmosphere. She was frustrated for a few minutes but soon, by monitoring the transmissions intercepted by the sticky attached to Kaosen, she had a fair idea of what was going on.

Essentially, the Kaosen's commander was threatening to demonstrate his brutality. Allura knew he couldn't do it against the lions, since the drulean forces had obviously been unable to even make a scratch.

However, she had a gut feeling that his attack would be directed at Altea and her citizens.

"Coran, is there any way to check to make sure there are no hostile forces still on the surface?" Allura asked. Coran shook his head gravely.

"No," he said, "but the lions would have detected something before they left the atmosphere if there had been."

"All the same," she told him, "get in touch with Gorosei and make sure he's prepared for ground forces. I believe we will be attacked when we are at our most vulnerable."

"Dokeska naishando keen!"

Allura snapped her head to the caved-in entrance where a drulean had appeared. Coran opened fire on him and immediately he was shot down, but not before tossing something at them.

"Grenade!" Allura yelled, recognizing it as it rolled to a stop. Instinctively, she put her arms up to protect her head and turned to run for cover, but it went off before she took one step.

.o0o.

Sadek grinned impossibly wide. It was the first part of the plan that had actually gone right. Now, if he could get the rest of it to work…

"How well do your communications with your compatriots work?" he mused. "Are you able to speak with them directly?"

No answer. So they could not speak with the others. That was even better. He would be able to deliver the news himself.

"Then it would interest you to know that I had a soldier down in your caves," he went on. "Oh, he was killed just minutes ago, but not before throwing a shrapnel grenade to your fair princess."

The result was instantaneous.

One lion broke off from the others and dove for the planet's surface. The other four attacked Kaosen full on, tearing at the hull with raged claws and teeth. Sadek had hoped that all five lions would attack; that was the ideal situation. But four lions were better than five.

Sadek activated the electromagnets imbedded in the hull, hoping the lions would be trapped by it.

Four loud groaning booms were heard. Success. The four lions had been magnetized to the hull, unable to move. That done, he typed in his personal emergency code. This was it. The end. Sadek typed in the self-destruct code for Kaosen.

.o0o.

"Raible!"

Nothing.

"Raible, you son of a bitch! Answer me!"

Nothing.

"Fuck!" Takashi yelled. "Straight down, you nuisance! Bore straight down into the ground into that cavern! I don't give two shits if the impact kills me."

**Ao: Affirmative.**

A red laser bored down into the ground and Takashi saw on one of the monitors that it was a laser embedded into Aojishi's tail. Well. That might have been useful to know earlier.

Aojishi's claws began digging through dirt and rock when the laser quit. Two long minutes was how long Takashi had to wait until they broke through. He immediately saw ant-like movement that turned out to be military personnel rushing about.

Takashi caught a glimpse of the asshole Gorosei pointing and shouting.

"Where is she?" Takashi yelled. Gorosei started and looked at him in fury.

"In the infirmary," he answered. "They all are. Where the hell were you?"

"She's alive?" Takashi asked.

"Barely," Gorosei snapped. "No thanks to you worthless—"

Takashi didn't stick around. He'd established that she was alive and that was what he needed at the moment. There was a little resistance from Aojishi, but eventually Takashi got him to blast off into space again. What he saw was the coup de gras.

All four lions were crushed to the hull of Kaosen.

"Takashi! We're stuck! Fucking can't move!"

"It's an electromagnet!" Pidge yelled over Akira. "It should be near the engines. You gotta blow it!"

Takashi could feel the magnetism pulling at Aojishi, but he was still far enough away that he could move about freely.

"Blow out the entire engineering area," Takashi told Aojishi. "Let's pay these fuckers back."

**Kuro: Status, Ao.**

**Ao: Alive. Wounded. Unknown prognosis.**

"If you will stop dicking around and blast those engines, we could get back down there faster," Takashi snapped. "Are you done chatting now?"

Aojishi snarled at him.

"Save it for someone who cares," Takashi spat back. "Once the electromagnet is knocked out, we're going to tear that damn ship apart, from seam to seam. Got it?"

**Ao: Affirmative.**

A dozen missiles fired at different points in the engine area, blasting off an entire chunk of ship. It quickly got caught in Atlea's atmosphere and burned up on entry.

"That work?" Takashi asked.

"No!" three of them shouted.

"Plan B," Takashi said. "Blast the sucker from the inside out."

Six more missiles fired off in succession and entered the breeched end of the ship. A huge fireball that grew bigger with each missile that was shot into it, altering Kaosen's trajectory. It began to slowly careen toward the planet too.

"Finally!" Akira yelled. "Break free, guys! It's gonna get pulled into the atmosphere!"

Several pods began jettisoning from Kaosen and immediately jumped into hyperspace.

"Don't let those sons of bitches get away!" Hunk cried, taking shots at the small crafts.

"We got to get back down to the surface," Akira told him. "They'll need—"

In a bright, blinding flash of light, Kaosen vaporized before hitting Altea's atmosphere. Seconds later, they were hit with a force tremor.

"Thirty seconds later and that would have been us," Pidge pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Takashi dismissed. "We sent a message today, and I'm pretty sure Planet Doom got the jist of it."

.o0o.

Allura was dreaming.

It was different than the times before, though. First off, Allura knew she was dreaming. Second, she was on the periphery, watching things occur rather than being a part of them.

She stood on an outlying crop of rock and rubble in one of the caves, but its shape was unfamiliar to her. It did not look like one that her people or the lions used to move about. Gradually, a little more light spilled into the cavern as a body came closer, and Allura saw why she did not recognize the cave.

A little boy appeared with a torch and slowly climbed on the still form of Voltron, mostly uncovered by rock. The robot looked much the same as it had in the pictures Allura had seen of it, save for the royal crest was not on its chest. Its chest plate was solid red, except for some metal seaming.

"When I get big, I'm gonna be a pilot," the little boy told Voltron, his voice echoing dully through the caves. "I'm gonna fly around and protect people so they don't have to be scared no more."

As expected, Voltron was silent and still.

"You should fly with me," the boy told the robot. "We could be all strong and stuff."

The little boy faded from her view, and so did the torch light. So did much of the rock covering Voltron, until most of it was completely gone. When light came to the cavern again, it came faster and with the sound of running footsteps and huffing.

The same boy, now probably thirteen instead of six or seven, stormed into the cave and paced around in a circle. Obviously frustrated, he kicked a nearby rock with his boot, sending it careening into the darkness.

"They attacked again today," the boy spoke aloud, almost growling with anger. "Six hundred more killed. Those beasts did not discriminate. Children. Women. They murdered anything that moved."

Silence echoed in the cavern aside from the boy's angered breathing.

"I wish I could do something!" he yelled suddenly, kicking another loose rock. "But they make me sit here so I will be safe, while others, kids even younger than me, are killed instead. It's not right."

Allura knew this boy's plight very well and sympathized with him.

"I would give anything to be able to help them," he lamented, quieting from his tantrum. He now sounded almost desperate. "Isn't that what I'm supposed to do as king? Give up everything? My life if it's needed?"

Allura knew the answer to that. It was no. As much as she wanted to be a part of the solution, she was forced to be a bystander.

"I'd give it," the boy pledged, his voice full of truthfulness. "I'd give my life to save my people. I'd give it a thousand times over."

A hatch popped open on the robot's chest. As clear as if it were resonating from within herself, Allura heard a deep voice.

_Come. I will aide you._

Allura watched the boy, also startled by the voice, climb upon the robot and peek warily into the hatch.

"Why now?" the boy asked. "Why haven't you spoken to me before?"

_You were not ready._

"Not ready?" he repeated. "Ready for what?"

_To sacrifice your life. To become the key to your people's survival. To make the command to vanquish your enemies._

"You will help me do this?" the boy asked.

_I will tie myself to you, and all those who come after you. But you must likewise tie yourself to me._

"How so?" the boy asked. Allura realized she was watching Ryou, the boy king who had, according to history, figured out how to release Voltron.

_If you are destroyed, I shall too perish. And similarly, if I am defeated, you shall lose your life._

Ryou considered this for a moment. "I'll do it."

With that said, the boy dropped down into the open hatch of Voltron. The scene of her dream abruptly changed from the caverns where Voltron lay to the grassy knoll in front of old castle Erus. The castle gleamed in the sunlight and Voltron stood protectively in front of it.

Impossibly small before the enormous robot, an elder man gazed up at Voltron, wearing the royal colors.

"You are sure about this, my friend?" the man asked.

_A time will come when I am needed again, and I shall arise. For now, let me sleep._

"Of course," the man agreed. "But how will we wake you if you are needed?"

_A key, a sacrifice, and a command. That is all._

The light gleaming off castle Erus became nothing at all as a bright, burning white light enveloped Voltron. Even though she was dreaming, Allura couldn't help but shield her eyes to it. When she could see again, Voltron was gone, and in its place were five napping lions.

The peaceful, grassy field shifted to a dark cavern where a teenaged boy with pale blue skin and white hair stood over a small, blonde haired child.

"I'll tell you about Daisuke," the light blue skinned boy bartered. "That's a good girl. I knew you'd behave. You're so much better than your brother. He fought with me to the very end."

A sob escaped the small child, and Allura realized she was watching her own memory now.

"You should have heard him while I tortured Sarek and Liam," he mused. "He yelled and cursed and fought to save his little brothers lives. Then it was his turn. I was going to kill you first, but he begged for me to kill him instead.

"I started at his feet," the boy, Lotor, went on, "and worked my way up. I wanted his heart to remain beating as long as possible. He'd begged for his torture and I wasn't going to disappoint him by letting him die too soon.

"I yanked out each of his toe nails and then slit his Achilles tendons. The cartilage in his knees crushed so easily, I wondered why he screamed so loudly. How could something that easily broken hurt so much? What a pathetic species you are.

"It was when I castrated him. He said something that intrigued me. He apologized to his father for no longer being able to sacrifice himself to Voltron. Such an odd thing to say. I ripped his eyes out next and then retrieved you from Honerva Haggar.

"Without being able to see you, he had no idea what I did to you to make you cry, but he begged me to stop. He said he'd do anything if I stopped hurting you. And he did exactly what I'd said."

"No," the child cried in a tiny voice. "Stop! I don't want to hear anymore!"

"But this is the best part," Lotor teased. "He told me the secret of Volton. Don't you want to hear it?"

Allura listened carefully to the conversation, even though she knew it by heart. It was one she'd never be able to forget.

"Yes you do," he chuckled. "I had intended to kill you the moment I got what I wanted from him, but unfortunately, Daisuke said the one thing that prevented me from harming one hair on your head. He said you were the key to Volton now."

The key…

"Without you, Voltron couldn't exist," he went on. "I should have broken your tiny little neck right then and there to rid the universe of Voltron, but…power over the legendary fighter is very tempting. And in retrospect, you won't be half bad to look at, either. It may prove to be a pleasure to father children from you and take over the line of Voltron."

The memory blurred away and Allura found her dream to be devoid of all images and colors. She mulled over what she'd heard.

A key, a command, a sacrifice.

No, wait, rearrange it a little. Hadn't it been in a different order?

A sacrifice, a key, a command.

_The_ sacrifice is_ the_ key is_ the_ command. That's it!

.o0o.

Allura awoke breathless and with her heart hammering in her chest and sore all over. It was dark in the medical bay, but she could hear people moving about outside the room. It sounded like the battle was over now, and the recovery had begun.

Good. That meant the lions were likely back in their dens.

Allura quietly swung her legs over the side of the gurney she'd been sleeping in and tested her balance. She was dizzy for only a moment, so she went over to the chair where her normal clothes were and put them on.

Allura hurried but tried to be as quiet as possible. She knew that the others would not let her out of their sight after what had happened, but she needed to get out undetected. She had to go see Kurojishi.

* * *

**A/N:** Hoping you're enjoying my story so far. It's shaping quite nicely in my opinion. Big plans for the next three chapters. LOL I can hear people screaming at me through their computers 'When the hell is Voltron going to show up already?' and I promise, he'll get here. In three chapters or so. Anyway, please review!


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